By P PREM KUMAR & ALIFAH ZAINUDDIN / Pic By MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

Leaders should yearn to win the trust of the people in order to create a win-win progressive state, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He pointed out that without the people’s trust, even the greatest governments around the world have fallen.

Dr Mahathir, who is also Pakatan Harapan’s chairperson, said the current federal government is aware of the trust factor and it will strive to preserve the trust given during the historic 14th General Election.

“We have made promises, (but) to a certain extent they were drawn when we were not in power.

“Therefore, we made promises thinking that we will lose. So, we have to redouble our efforts to win the trust of the people,” he said at the inaugural Dr Mahathir Mohamad Leadership Series, organised by the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) last night in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr Mahathir said trust can be regained, if lost, but will require time and effort. “I believe in a second chance, but you must strive to reject all (the things) your greed pushes you to do. We need to do things correctly with the rule of law.”

Dr Mahathir said trust is not only beneficial to individuals, but also for a country, as the government will only be judged by its global peers by a country’s trustworthiness.

“If we are trusted, then a lot of good things will come to us. If we borrow and we return it, people will trust us.

“(The) worst thing, when a person fails to repay loans and return what he/she has borrowed, the community becomes affected where the whole community may not be trusted and subsequently, the whole nation may not be trusted,” he added.