PUTRAJAYA (Feb 1): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he disagrees with the perception held by some Malays that he is a puppet in the Pakatan Harapan government.

At a press conference after the PH presidential council meeting, the prime minister also denied allegations that the government is dominated by the DAP.

He was responding to a recent survey which concluded than 60% of the Malay respondents believed non-Malays are now in control of the government and that DAP is calling the shots in Putrajaya.

The survey, conducted jointly by pollster Ilham Centre and think tank Penang Institute, interviewed 2,614 Malay respondents between Oct 24 and Dec 24, 2018.

The survey also found nearly 60% of Malays surveyed were not happy with the performance of the PH government.

Dr Mahathir said the survey was inaccurate and that it was being used as a tool by the opposition party to confuse people.

"There is a small percentage of those unhappy with us. But definitely not 60%. They are making use of this fiction that Pakatan Harapan is run by DAP and that I am just a puppet. I have never been a puppet.

"I have talked to many Malays. This is part of a campaign by the opposition to delineate us," he said.

Dr Mahathir went on to say he acknowledges that the government needs to do more to ensure Malaysians are made aware of their successes.

"We understand that the people now are less focused on the wrongdoings of the former government. They are more focused on the achievements by Pakatan Harapan, so we want to keep them informed about what we have done, what we are doing, and what we will be doing," he said.

To ensure this, he said the government will establish a body that will focus on addressing allegations or claims made against the government and work on communicating more aligned statements that will not leave the people confused.

"Although many believe that this coalition will never succeed, the fact is since we took over the government, we can work together among ourselves in implementing all government policies, be it economic, political, social [or] others.

"Therefore, although these are not seen by others, they are successes that we have achieved, and we will list them down in the near future," he said.