KUALA LUMPUR: Jomo Kwame Sundaram, one of the Group of Eminent Persons appointed by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 2018, revealed that the former prime minister had ignored his advice to take on a role as an elder statesman instead of remaining active in politics.

Jomo said during a talk organized by the Oxford & Cambridge Society of Malaysia that he had made the advice to Tun Mahathir seven years ago.

“And as usual, he ignored my advice,” he said.

After Mahathir became prime minister for a second time in 2018, he appointed a team of senior professionals to assist the new government. Besides Jomo, the other members of the team were Robert Kuok, Tun Daim Zainuddin, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz and Tan Sri Hassan Marican.