Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad is back with more attacks against his successor, the current Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak. According to Dr. Mahathir, if Najib contiues to stay in power in Malaysia, the Malays in Malaysia could become just as marginalized as their Singapore counterparts.
Dr. Mahathir also claimed that Najib is refusing to resign from power because he fears being hauled up to court on "criminal charges".
Dr. Mahathir made all these statements in an online video yesterday, where he was filmed speaking to non-governmental organizations in a closed-door forum at the Perdana Foundation. In the forum, he said that Malaysia should not be struggling for the sake of the personal goals of one man, but for the survival of the nation, its race and its religion.
“I think we are smart people. Do we want to protect Najib? Or do we want to protect the Malays and the country? This is what we have to ask ourselves,” he said.
Dr. Mahathir also launched another attack on Najib over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy. “It’s hard to even imagine RM1 billion (S$357 million) ... even RM1 million, some Malays don’t recognise ... this is RM42 billion [of debt]."
“But if we don’t acknowledge the crime that is happening here, there is a high likelihood that we will lose and we will be divided ... And we will suffer the fate of the Malays in Singapore, in southern Thailand and other places,” Dr Mahathir said.
Throughout his tenure as Prime Minister of Malaysia, and even after he stepped down from power, Dr. Mahathir has been known to make strong statements about his views on the Malay community in Singapore. His remarks in the past have drawn heated exchanges of words between Malaysian and Singaporean politicians, including from the late Lee Kuan Yew himself.