PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has admitted that bumiputras abused the privileges given to them under his administration.

In the second part of his interview with online news portal Malaysiakini, Mahathir remained confident of decisions he made during his 22-year administration, and said the only problem he encountered was getting bumiputra participation.

"They abused everything that we gave them, except for a few. A few have done well. But those who did well were immediately labelled as my cronies," he said in the interview in his Petronas Twin Towers office on May 16, 2006.

Asked whether the abuse was a result of a lack of measures to keep people accountable, Mahathir said: "We try as much as possible but we cannot be looking over everyone's shoulder. How can you look over their shoulder all the time?"

Mahathir stressed that as a matter of principle, when he was prime minister, he did not allow his children or his wife to be involved in business with the government.

"The children can do business, but not with the government. This is a general principle," he said.

Asked if he would advise current prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to follow suit, he said: "That is entirely up to him. I don't advise (him), but this is a general principle I'm talking about. So, I follow the general principle."

Mahathir revealed that some of his relatives were not on talking terms with him because he refused to help them but "that is my problem."

He said when he was the premier, people asked him to nominate his son as a parliamentary candidate but he declined because he did not want to give the impression that he was creating a dynasty.

Asked if he thought cronyism has stopped with the new administration, Mahathir said: "Well, you can make your own judgement."

In today's installment of the interview, Mahathir will answer questions about Umno and former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.