PM sees similarities between PTI govt, Mahathir regime.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday that his government faces the same difficulties faced by the most experienced and accomplished statesman of the Muslim world, Mahathir bin Mohamad, in Malaysia.

Taking to tweeter, Imran Khan said Prime Minister Mahathir is confronted with an entrenched political mafia that has bankrupted and indebted Malaysia, leaving state institutions devastated.

The two leaders share a deep bond with Prime Minister Imran Khan praising his counterpart's vision for Malaysia's steady economic progress. The two leaders have pushed for unity in the Muslim world and to curb Islamophobia.

Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, visited Pakistan last year on the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan to grace Pakistan Day parade as chief guest.

In November 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Malaysia and both sides had agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in trade, privatisation, foreign direct investment, food, and tourism.

In his blog post, Prime Minister Mahathir had underscored the difficulties faced by a new government when it takes over from a 'kleptocratic' predecessor.

'When a new party takes over as a government, it would be a miracle if it were to execute all its plans and promises overnight,' wrote the Malaysian premier.

'It would be an even greater miracle if it can implement its plans and agenda immediately. It is not taking over just any government. It took over from a kleptocratic government which had raped the nation for years, destroyed its finances, undermined its administrative agencies, abused its laws, borrowed well beyond the ceiling permitted, placed the country on the path to bankruptcy, made the people dependent on the government with bribes and generally undermined the moral of the people.

'Of course, a lot of people were happy to enjoy corrupt money and many illegal favours. They would like these bad practices to continue. But the majority of the people knew the sad state of the country and ensured that the corrupt government was overthrown.'

'In other countries, when a common objective is achieved, the fragile unity would break up as each party would try to take over. A bitter struggle would ensue. In the end the coalition would break up. In one Middle Eastern country, the ensuing struggles ended up with the military seizing power. It was back to square one,' he analysed.

But this did not happen in Malaysia.

'The fragile opposition coalition was sustained, even...