Dr M answers his critics

He says his disagreement is not with Umno, but with its leader

PETALING JAYA: Former premier Mahathir Mohamad has defended himself against critics of his attack on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, including those who have implied wrongdoing on his part when he was in power.

In his latest blog entry, Mahathir denies that his previous article accused Najib of any crime, saying he only asked for answers to questions raised by the public. It is for the police to determine whether Najib is guilty of any crime, he says.

To those who have asked why he has waited eight years to raise the issue of the Altantuya murder, he says: “What I have raised is an issue that is relevant today – the issue of the lives of two policemen who have been sentenced to death. It would be unjust indeed if they were to be killed for obeying an order. I merely asked who gave the order to Sirul and his companion.”

Mahathir admits that the country lost money during his administration, but he says Malaysians and the rest of the world know where the money went. “They know about Perwaja’s losses. They know about the mismanagement of Bank Bumiputra.” He attempts to explain Maminco’s losses, but with regard to allegations connected to Konsortium Perkapalan and Forex, he asks his accusers to explain how he was involved in them.

“What is clear,” he says, “is that the nation knows where money was invested during my time. In business, we sometimes gain and we sometimes lose. But it is unacceptable when we don’t know where the money goes.”

He says he asked a few questions regarding 1MDB because the billions in debt that it has incurred will eventually burden the public.

“Those who have attacked me have not given any answers. They only say that I have an agenda and that I did the same thing when I was in power. “

He says he won’t object to investigations into his alleged wrongdoings.

He also reveals, without giving details, that Najib was “partly instrumental” in the ouster of his predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Addressing critics who say he has a political agenda, Mahathir asks: “What is wrong with that? A Prime Minister must be seen to be clean and able to explain and answer questions and to be good for the country. Najib cannot even answer and has not answered any question, beyond exercising elegant silence or saying the allegations are not true.

“There is also an attempt to divert attention from my questions by saying that I am siding with the opposition, even that I have become leader of the opposition.

“If saying something that is similar to the opposition makes me aligned with the opposition, then Najib must be more with the opposition than me because he agreed with the opposition to abolish the ISA, the prevention of crime law and ignore the NEP. He also wanted to abolish the Sedition Act as demanded by the opposition. If Umno did not object, the Sedition Act would have been abolished. So is Najib a member of the opposition?

“I am still an Umno member. My disagreement is with the leader, not with the party. I criticised the leader, not the party. It is simply because I want to see the party win. It will not win if Najib is the leader.”