PM: There was no gentleman’s agreement between me and Mahathir - The Star

By Shahanaaz Habib

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said there was no gentleman’s agreement between him and his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that he (Abdullah) be prime minister only for a term.

“No such thing,” the Prime Minister told reporters yesterday after he launched Pavilion, the latest upmarket shopping mall here.

Asked why he thought Dr Mahathir felt that there was such an agreement, he said, “Each person has his own views.”

When reporters pressed him further on the so-called gentleman’s agreement, Abdullah brushed it aside saying, “Why are you so interested in this? There was nothing.”

Three days ago, the former prime minister had claimed that he had a gentleman’s agreement when he handed over power to Abdullah in 2003, that the latter would stay on for one term only and subsequently pass over the mantle to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

On the general election, Abdullah indicated that it was close.

Asked whether he had received inspiration to call for the election, he replied, “I am about to.”

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/1/nation/20203570&sec=nation]