Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has warned his country's Malays that they will have to "work hard" or risk being left behind by the minority races.

According to The Straits Times, Mahathir was speaking in a live interview televised on state television station RTM1 on May 8 -- the eve of the first year anniversary of Pakatan Harapan's (PH) historic election victory.

He was quoted by ST as saying: "Yes they [Malay] are the majority. But they are weak."

"Weak in terms of economy... Weak in political mindset. They are the majority but they divide themselves into four parties which become minority parties and require assistance from other parties," he added.

Mahathir had been referring to the four Malay parties, two of which are within the PH ruling coalition.

They are Mahathir's own Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and Parti Amanah Negara.

Criticised for not protecting Malay rights

The other two Malay parties -- Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) -- have proved a thorn in the government's side over the past year.

Since March 2019, the two parties have co-operated formally with each other, winning three by-elections against PH in the Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau.

In the process, they have often used a platform founded on racial and religious identity to criticise PH of not protecting Malay rights.

Speaking on the fears that Malays might have of losing out to the other races, the 93-year-old prime minister said: "[Their fears] can be overcome if they work hard to strengthen themselves economically, intellectually."

"If they can do so and compete with minority races they wouldn't have this fear."

Racial and religious tightrope

In an interview published on May 6 by Malaysiakini, Mahathir acknowledged the racial and religious tightrope his ruling coalition has to walk on.

"People feel the government is favouring the Malays. But if you ask the Malay-Muslims, they will tell you that the government is not paying attention to Islam," he said.

"We have to be conscious of that also, because if we don't attend to that we will lose support from the Malays."

He also conceded that PH would likely lose power if they were to lose the support of any of the racial groups in Malaysia.

Top image from Mahathir Mohamad Facebook