KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed his disappointment for not being chosen by the people of Langkawi that had led to his defeat in the 15th General Election (GE15) last year.
The former prime minister said he felt saddened because his efforts in developing Langkawi went unappreciated by the residents of the area.
"I did various things for the people of Langkawi. I made (Langkawi) a duty-free island. During the pandemic, I provided food.
"When hit by a tsunami, we helped, rebuilt houses. We did various things for the people of Langkawi. However, when it comes to elections, they did not vote for me," he said in a podcast recording "Keluar Sekejap" with former Umno youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan, broadcasted today.
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir also revealed that his loss in the Langkawi seat was due to the people's preference for receiving assistance in the form of cash.
"I asked, why didn't they vote for me. They said, because I didn't give money. That's their answer.
"I asked again, how much money they received, and they answered RM100. I asked, what can you do with RM100, and they said that money can be spent for two days," he said.
He added that such an attitude made him disappointed as a leader.
"The Malays nowadays prioritise getting RM100 over all the services we have ever provided to them," he said.
Earlier, Dr Mahathir failed to retain his seat in the five-cornered competition in the Langkawi Parliament, receiving only 4,566 votes.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Datuk Suhaimi Abdullah won the seat with a majority of 13,518 after securing 25,463 votes.
