Nothing personal, Mahathir says on attacks against Najib

Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he was not seeking personal revenge against Najib Razak in his attacks against the former prime minister, adding that Najib’s brother himself had asked him to act at the outbreak of the 1MDB scandal.

“There is no desire for personal revenge on my part towards Najib,” he said in his second letter to voters ahead of the Johor election.

“I would like to remind everyone that as the 1MDB scandal erupted, Najib’s brother, Nazir, himself came to meet with me, asking me to do something as billions had gone missing and justice had not been delivered for the crimes committed.”

Adding that Nazir had written at length on the 1MDB scandal and the “crimes” committed by his brother, Mahathir said he had done so out of shame that his family was embroiled in such wrongdoings.

“Much more was written by Nazir revealing Najib’s scandal in detail,” he said.

Mahathir said he had supported Najib before the 1MDB scandal, even putting pressure on Abdullah Badawi to appoint Najib as deputy prime minister.

“I believed that Najib was qualified, and I felt indebted to his father Tun Razak who had helped me in my political career,” he said.

“But sadly, Najib is not like his father. Tun Razak was a nationalist who fought for the nation with integrity. Najib meanwhile stole the country’s assets with the help of Jho Low.”

Mahathir, in his previous letter to voters, had urged them to put a stop to plans by the so-called court cluster to return to power through a series of state elections.

He said the results of the polls next month would have a huge impact on the general election to come.

In his letter today, he repeated his call to voters.

“He must be stopped because if he returns to power, this means that the country will be controlled and ruled by a kleptocrat from the court cluster, to be robbed and plundered.”