KUALA LUMPUR: One reason why people have begun running down the Pakatan Harapan government is because of its inability to fulfil its election promises, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said this was due to the promises made by the then Pakatan opposition pact in its bid to wrest power from Barisan Nasional through the polls on May 9, 2018.

"Now, the nation is watching to see if this new government implements those promises.

"But, unfortunately, we (Pakatan) find ourselves unable to implement many of the promises.

"And so begins another round of running down the government," he said when delivering a keynote address at the Democracy Fest 2019 Saturday (Feb 16).

He noted that the people wanted to see immediate changes after Pakatan took over.

However, Dr Mahathir said that Pakatan faced difficulties in implementing quick reforms owing to the legacy left behind by the previous administration.

"The people, of course, are not patient and they want to see changes now.

"But like it or not, they have to bear with us and bear with the present government as it takes time to correct all the wrongs done by the previous government," he added.

He cautioned that the Pakatan government, if it stayed in power too long, would end up behaving like the previous government, which did not take the peoples' criticism seriously.

On a separate matter, Dr Mahathir said it was right for members of a political party to leave their party if it had deviated from its original struggle.

Although not mentioning any party by name, Dr Mahathir cited the example where a party had been formed to fight for the nation's independence but ended up abusing the power entrusted to it over the years.

"What is important is not the party that is struggling for its perpetuation but the struggle of the party.

"All parties are created to carry out reforms and once they deviate from those reforms, it is time to leave the party," he said.

He cited himself leaving Umno as an example, choosing to work with Pakatan to carry out reforms for the good of the nation.