Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is one of the few leaders whom Prime Minister Imran Khan admires a lot and as of recent, it looks like PM Imran isn’t the only leader who believes that taking U-turns is one of the qualities of great leadership.
In a recent article published by The Star, his Malaysian counterpart said it is okay to take U-turns as well.
This came in a few weeks after the Pakistani premier said that U-turns are the “hallmark of great leadership”.
Similarly, Malaysian PM Mahathir has said, “It is okay for leaders to backtrack from their initial promises because even angels make mistakes sometimes.”
It was further stated that amidst criticism over several U-turns taken by Mahathir himself in his government policies, he said that “leaders are not perfect people”.
“Sometimes, we go the wrong way, we turn around but only if necessary. We are not perfect people,” he further said.
“Although most of us are angels, angels make mistakes. So, when angels make mistakes, they turn around,” he added.
Mahathir was responding to the public’s reaction to several backtracks made by the Malaysian government, one of which is the suspension of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation loan instalment scheme that was supposed to take effect on January 1.
Earlier, a similar statement was made by PM Imran when he had said that “a leader who did not take U-turns according to the requirements of the situation was not a real leader”. Following the statement, PM Imran received criticism by the opposition, however, it was defended by his party members.