LETTER | If there is one thing a nation hopes to have in their prime minister, it is integrity. It is a trait that ensures honesty, it is a trait that demands moral uprightness, and it is a trait that is vital for leading a nation from strength to strength.

Unfortunately, it is also a trait that Prime Minster, Dr Mahathir Mohamad (above) seems to lack entirely.

A recent report by Malaysiakini exposed several damning quotes from our Prime Minister which were stated at a closed-door gathering of Pakatan Harapan and Parti Warisan Sabah members on August 13th:

“We (PH) thought we were going to lose. We put in tough things in the manifesto so that if we lose, the (BN) government would be in a quandary (after winning the polls).

"But now, we are the government. We are victims of our own manifesto,”

Let me repeat - “We are victims of our own manifesto”. Wrong. Dr Mahathir, you are no victim.

What our Prime Minister truly is, is a perpetrator, one who has admitted to making empty promises to a vulnerable people, only to spit in the face of those whose trust he gained after a ‘miraculous’ victory.

It is difficult to wrap your head around what kind of person and what kind of party could come up with this strategy - making up a bunch of puffed up promises with no practical direction of achieving their said goals.

Mahathir pledged to repeal the Sedition Act, he failed. Mahathir pledged to ratify the UN treaty against racial discrimination, he failed. Mahathir promised to repeal the Anti-Fake News act, he failed. I could go on and on.

While previously, we made excuses, now we know the truth... Mahathir never really thought he would be able to accomplish his promises.

Let’s look at some more of his quotes:

“The new government wants to adhere to the rule of law. Of course, we realise that some of the laws in this country are bad laws, draconian laws. We want to repeal them and install new laws...

"This is not as easy as we thought when we were in the opposition. We thought, when we become the government, we would just throw out these laws. Unfortunately, we have procedures to go through.”

Dr Mahathir, a man who has already experienced being the prime minister for twenty-two years, one who knows the game of politics arguably better than anyone, "thought" he could “just throw out these laws”.

Seriously? I have zero political experience, but I know that is not how politics work.

Continuing on this quasi-naive ramble, Tun M continued: “And now we are being criticized for not keeping our promises. While it is easy to make promises during elections, it is not so easy to implement them if you win.”

Yes Dr Mahathir, you have made it very clear that it is easy to lie to the faces of the people who supported you. You have made it clear you played on a vulnerable nation who was desperate for change and would cling to any hope.

You have made it clear that the Harapan manifesto is not worth the paper it is printed on.

Where is your integrity? The Malaysian people deserve so much more.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.