Mahathir says he is ready to resign

Mahathir says he is ready to resign

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says he is prepared to step down if he is the cause of "distress" to people. "I don't think the world needs to sacrifice millions of jobs just to flush me out because I will go if I cause a lot of distress to so many people," he said in an interview with the Hong Kong-based weekly Far Eastern Economic Review.

Excerpts from the interview will be published in the issue coming out today. Parts of the interview were released yesterday.

Mahathir, 72, who became Asia's longest-serving leader after Indonesia's president Soeharto was ousted last month, had said earlier that he would consider quitting once the economy revives.

Mahathir also said that megaprojects like Malaysia's new airport at Sepang and the Petronas twin towers, the world's tallest building, are "good for the ego" of a developing country.

"It is important because small people always like to appear tall. If you can't get tall enough you put a box under you."

Malaysia has often been criticized for spending too lavishly on grandiose projects.

Mahathir also repeated his accusations against currency speculators, blaming them for bringing on the crisis that had cost the Malaysian ringgit nearly 40 percent of its value in one year and sent stock markets crashing.

Over the weekend, Mahathir found himself defending his government and family against accusations of nepotism and cronyism. Some youth leaders at his United Malays National Organization's annual convention demanded a debate on government corruption.

These critics within the ruling party accused powerful politicians of misusing an affirmative action program aimed at helping Malays to benefit cronies by giving them lucrative government contracts.

But Mahathir emerged more powerful from the convention, having silenced his detractors.