KUALA LUMPUR — Dr Mahathir Mohamad stood his ground today (May 11) in calling for Mr Najib Razak’s resignation, insisting that he has no choice but to continue pushing for the latter’s removal because of the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy.

Dr Mahathir said he was aware that his refusal to support Mr Najib would be manipulated by the opposition, but added that even if the latter stays on as prime minister, Barisan Nasional (BN) would still be doomed.

“Billions of ringgit have been lost and will not likely be returned. Whether directly or indirectly, Najib is responsible for this massive loss,” the veteran statesman said in a lengthy blog post tonight.

“And because of his irresponsible actions, Najib is no longer fit to be the prime minister of Malaysia,” Dr Mahathir declared.

The former prime minister’s blog post, which repeats his many reasons for wanting Najib’s removal, comes a day after the latter declared in public that he will not succumb to calls for his resignation.

Speaking at a function last night in Sabah, the prime minister also urged for support from Dr Mahathir and told his harshest critic not to make “too much noise”, even reminding the latter that he had supported him during his tenure in government.

Dr Mahathir, the country’s longest serving former prime minister, has been at the forefront of the on-going attacks against Mr Najib’s leadership, even going public with his demand that the prime minister resigns before BN loses the next general election.

“I am aware that if I don’t support Najib, the opposition will use this as an opportunity for them. On the other hand, if Najib leads BN to the 14th general election, BN will lose,” Dr Mahathir insisted again tonight.

“If the leadership of UMNO and BN were to be changed, it has to be done before there is too little time for the party to rebuild itself before the 14th federal polls,” he added.

Dr Mahathir also went on to claim that although in the past, many people had approached him to speak out against some of Mr Najib’s policies, that it was the 1MDB issue that forced him to publicly demand for the latter’s resignation.

“When I started hearing about 1MDB, I felt the situation has become too serious,” he said.

He explained that before going public with his criticisms, he first penned a letter to Mr Najib, telling him that he no longer supports his leadership.

Dr Mahathir claimed that Mr Najib ordered his men to urge him to retract the letter, to which he said he refused.

“And because he (Najib) never revealed that I had withdrawn my support for him, I had to do it myself,” he said.

Earlier tonight, Mr Najib announced after meeting with UMNO’s top leaders that the party’s entire supreme council has thrown its support behind him and his deputy Mr Muhyiddin Yassin. MALAY MAIL ONLINE