Dr M has personal agenda, says Najib in riposte to former PM

KUALA LUMPUR — Dr Mahathir Mohamad is using the controversy over the debt-laden state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as an excuse to topple him, said Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday, adding that the real reason for Dr Mahathir’s continuous attacks against him was because he had refused to accede to the former Prime Minister’s demands.

“Many people are asking — what motivates Dr Mahathir to make these attacks on a serving Prime Minister? The answer is: He wants me to resign, as he previously wanted Tun Badawi to resign because I refused to implement his personal demands,” Mr Najib wrote on his blog, referring to his predecessor Abdullah Badawi, who had also been attacked by Dr Mahathir.

“Dr Mahathir’s attacks in reality are not motivated by 1MDB. He is just using the company as an excuse to try to topple a serving Prime Minister. If 1MDB had never existed, Tun would find another reason.”

Dr Mahathir has been a staunch critic of the state investment arm, which has chalked up RM42 billion (S$15.1 billion) in debt in the six years since its inception.

He has openly and repeatedly called for Mr Najib to quit over the issue, saying the problems surrounding 1MDB could be resolved if the Prime Minister stepped down and allowed a full probe into the company.

Mr Najib has insisted he would not resign and earlier this week accused Dr Mahathir of making “insinuations, speaking half-truths, cracking misleading jokes and twisting statements to make his views exciting and palatable”.

In his blog post yesterday, Mr Najib did not indicate what demands Dr Mahathir had made. But in April, the elder statesman accused Mr Najib of reneging on an agreement to build the “crooked bridge” linking the Malaysian state of Johor and Singapore.

The “crooked bridge” was Dr Mahathir’s plan to replace the Causeway, but was discontinued by his successor, Mr Badawi. It is believed to be one reason Mr Badawi was hounded out of office by Dr Mahathir, the man who put him there.

At a forum last week, Dr Mahathir accused Mr Najib of giving in too much to Singapore and the United States.

Mr Najib’s blog post yesterday was his latest retaliation against the incessant attacks against him by his supporter-turned-critic.

In the latest post, Mr Najib again accused Dr Mahathir of creating a crisis by “recklessly” claiming that RM42 billion was missing from 1MDB and for saying the state investment vehicle’s financial assets worth RM16 billion were worthless. Such claims, he said, are false and have created unnecessary panic. Also, because Dr Mahathir is a former Premier, his allegations have negatively influenced the market and public sentiments.

“In the case of 1MDB, the RM42 billion debt is backed by RM51 billion assets as at the 2014 financial closing. But he chooses to ignore this.”

If Dr Mahathir genuinely wanted answers to his questions, he just needed to be patient and wait for the conclusion of the ongoing multiple probes into 1MDB by the auditor-general, Central Bank and the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee, Mr Najib added.

“It is a shame that Dr Mahathir has, yet again, turned against the leadership of his own party. These public attacks will only harm UMNO, the government and ultimately Malaysia. This unbecoming behaviour will be an unfortunate postscript to his legacy,” he said, referring to the ruling United Malays National Organisation.

In a swipe against Dr Mahathir, who had earlier predicted that the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition would lose in the next general election, Mr Najib said a single individual did not have the right to speak for the entire voting public.

He said BN could still win since its rival, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, is currently in chaos and given their different ideologies, he predicted that there would be national paralysis if it took over Putrajaya.

“If we in BN stay united and prove ourselves worthy over the coming years, I have faith that the public will prove Dr Mahathir wrong at the next election — once it’s understood that his allegations are false and motivated by self-interest, not Malaysia’s interest.”

Earlier yesterday, Dr Mahathir told a press conference he would not stop pressing Mr Najib’s administration until he resigns. AGENCIES