Giving A Public Lecture At The NasDem National Working Meeting, Mahathir Mohamad Talks About Leadership

NasDem National Work Meeting at JCC Jakarta/PHOTO: Nailin In Saroh-VOI

JAKARTA - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad gave a public lecture at the National Working Meeting of the NasDem Party at the JCC, Senayan, Jakarta. In front of NasDem cadres, Mahathir conveyed about leadership. According to him, leaders must be able to feel the people's concerns.

“The leader must be able to feel the heartbeat and pulse of the people. Understanding people's concerns and dreams," said Mahathir at the National Working Meeting of the NasDem Party, Friday, June 17.

Mahathir said that a country's democratic system frees its people to choose a leader who is deemed capable of leading the country. Once elected, he said, the leader must be responsible to the people.

"What is important is what the elected leaders must do to carry out their roles and responsibilities to the people, in order to achieve a position as a national leader," he continued.

"If before being elected he became the mouthpiece of the people to state institutions so that the fate of the people was defended, but after being elected it is his responsibility to ensure that what was fought for for the people while outside the kingdom continues to be fought for," he continued.

According to Mahathir, decisions after taking the lead must be based on the wishes of the majority of the people without marginalizing certain groups and prioritizing only one group.

"If this happens, the leader will lose his aspirations as a national leader and become an elitist supporter. Therefore, national leadership requires courage to make decisions and actions, even though they are bitter, but are carried out in the interests of the majority of the people and the state," Mahathir said.