As citizens of this country shouldering a big responsibility to elect a new government on May 5, the electorate must be smart and vigilant without being carried away by emotions and misguided to make a mistake in electing the next government, he said.
"Under the administration of six prime ministers, including me, our country has remained peaceful and prosperous. The people are given the powers to elect the government and they should exercise the power diligently and not be influenced by emotions and other characteristics that are not good for human beings," he said when delivering a ceramah themed "People's Unity" at the Royal Malaysia Navy Base here Tuesday.
Dr Mahathir said making a mistake in electing a party that had no credibility to govern the nation would derail the country's development agenda.
"Malaysia have scored many successes. The North Port and Westport have handled more than 10 million containers in and out of the ports, Malaysians have conquered Mount Everest, sailed solo around the world on a yacht.
"The country is also producing parts and components for aircraft. These are the results of the people's wisdom in electing a responsible and credible government," said Dr Mahathir who was prime minister for 22 years.
Dr Mahathir said the BN government was not greedy by seizing all the powers for itself but instead was willing to share power with the 13 component parties representing various races, religions and cultures.
"Even then, there are certain quarters who instigated and created hatred among the people. If there is no willingness to share power and the country's wealth, the race that is not represented in the government will feel disappointed.
"When such a situation arises, it will pose a threat to the internal security and public order," he said.
Dr Mahathir said the prevailing peace and safety in the country have enabled the masses to elect the party of their choice to govern the nation.
He said the Muslims, as the majority race in this country, also have a big role to play.
"If we fail to elect a credible government, the Muslims will be blamed because the world regards Malaysia as an Islamic nation created by the people, the majority of whom are Muslims," he said.
Later, responding to a question on the possibility of s government change after the election, Dr Mahathir said the BN was a coalition that reprsented all races based on the power-sharing principles.
On the contrary, he said, Pakatan Rakyat was not a coalition but an alliance that did not share power.
"They know that if they contested individually, they cannot, the government party will win. In this election, they have fielded only one Pakatan Rakyat candidate in one constituency, that also they're not really successful," he said.
Dr Mahathir said Pakatan Rakyat cannot be a ruling party because the component parties have different principles and their struggles for the nation varied from one another and they cannot reach a common consensus.
"We'll find among them some people are very racists, only bent on pursuing the interests of certain races. Some claim they're an Islamist party, they interpret Islamic teachings merely to suit their party's struggles.
"They also want to implement hudud law (Islamic penal code) only on Muslims. They're now playing down the issue and instead, they want to create a welfare state now.
"The Hudud Law must be fair to everyone but the Hudud Law proposed by PAS is only enforced on Muslims. We don't support PAS-styled Hudud Law. The most important thing is fairness," he said.
Dr Mahathir said the Pakatan Rakyat had no other goals except to become prime minister.
"If we make a wrong choice, our development agenda will be affected. The opposition parties cannot reach a consensus. They're engaged in a tug-a-war, pursuing only their parties' ideals and aspirations.
"They also don't have the administrative skills to administer the country," he added.
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