KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said DAP supremo Lim Guan Eng's claims that he had been threatened with a sacking when he was in the Cabinet was nothing more than a blatant lie.
"I never threatened to sack Guan Eng. That is a blatant lie," said the former prime minister.
"He was the head of DAP, a coalition member. I must respect his position. The only minister I dropped was Dr Maszlee Malik - who was the then Minister of Education," Mahathir said in his latest Facebook posting.
He said he was also surprised by Lim's comments regarding his stint as the 7th prime minister, saying that he thought Lim had worked well with him.
"It is normal for him as (then) finance minister to discuss major issues with me. After hearing my view, the matters would be put to the Cabinet for ministers to comment on the proposals. Only after the Cabinet's decision would the matter be placed before Parliament.
"In the end, Parliament decides whether to approve the matter or not. That is how the government works," he said.
Mahathir's posting comes in the wake of Lim's statement that the former Langkawi MP threatened to sack him three times when he was in the Cabinet.
Lim claimed Mahathir made the threats in front of other ministers when he insisted on fulfilling Pakatan Harapan's 2018 election manifesto, including reducing the North-South Highway toll by 18 per cent.
However, Mahathir today explained that the Cabinet cannot end up as a rubber stamp just because of promises made in a manifesto.
Citing the manifesto's promise to abolish tolls, he said:
"That is simple (to promise). But expressways have to be maintained and sometimes additional lanes need to be constructed.
"The government did not even have the money to build the road. Maintaining an 800-kilometre expressway is costly.
"If no tolls are collected the government or the company would not be able to maintain this first-class expressway."
Mahathir said in the end it was the Cabinet which decided and not the prime minister alone.
"The finance minister had his say. If the Cabinet is not for abolishing tolls, then tolls could not be abolished.
"I cannot describe the debates in the Cabinet as acrimonious. My job was to chair the meeting. I had a right to air my views as did Guan Eng."