Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad took to his personal blog today to address accusations that he was part of a conspiracy to remove current PM Najib Razak from office, dismissing them as he said there was no need for secret dealings – he openly wants Najib out.
Following the report on July 2 by The Wall Street Journal, which alleged that some USD700 million (RM2.6 billion) belonging to sovereign development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, had been transferred into the PM’s personal bank accounts, Najib took to Facebook to defend himself, in part by accusing Mahathir of being part of a conspiracy to force him out of the Prime Minister and UMNO President posts.
Today, Mahathir retorts: “What we do know now is that I had openly called for his stepping down. No conspiracy. Just open declaration to the whole nation that I would like to see Najib cease to be Prime Minister.
“It is all in the open. There is no need to conspire. There is open campaigning for his ceasing to be Prime Minister.”
Mahathir also questioned the move by Najib’s legal team to send a letter of inquiry to the WSJ, rather than proceeding to sue the famed US-based financial newspaper.
In addition, the former PM lashed out at local media outlets for not reporting what he termed the full scope of the 1MDB issue, and accused Malaysian sub-editors of “writing misleading headlines” to confuse the people.
He also did not mince words at the denials being proferred by 1MDB and its defenders in the face of mounting allegations:
“To all comments made against 1MDB, the standard answer is to deny, to say “No it is not true.” It is like somebody upon being asked whether he had stolen the money as alleged, simply denies that he had stolen, expecting the judge to acquit him simply because he denied.”
As to the supposed audacity of some quarters demanding that the PM step down amidst the allegations of wrongdoing, Mahathir pointed out that both he and Najib’s immediate predecessor in office, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had resigned from office despite being appointed to the premiership by a democratically-elected ruling party.
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