DR M: COUNTRY’S GOVERNANCE SYSTEM ABUSED BY NAJIB

He used his authority to rob Malaysia, says PM

MALAYSIA’S system of governance was abused by his predecessor, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who used his authority to rob the country, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“The system may be the same, but the man is different.

“That system has had five prime ministers before him and there was no accusation of corruption of that scale against all those five.

“But the system can be abused. What he did was to use his authority to steal money,” Dr Mahathir told BBC’s HARDtalk programme during an interview in London. The 20-minute programme was aired on Tuesday.

Speaking to programme anchor Zeinab Badawi, Dr Mahathir said it was up to the court to decide on the charges against Najib.

Najib is facing 21 charges over alleged money laundering involving more than RM4.3 billion and four corruption charges with the sum totalling RM2.3 billion related to funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which were credited into his personal account.

Earlier in August, Najib faced four charges over alleged abuse of power and money laundering.

Najib pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

“It is enough for us to charge him and it’s up to the court to decide whether our evidence is correct or his denial is correct,” Dr Mahathir told BBC’s HARDtalk.

During the interview, Zeinab posed tough questions about his decision to return to office and work with the then opposition parties in the 14th General Election, as well as his relationship with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, affirmative action, his fight against corruption and on the Pakatan Harapan government.

Dr Mahathir was on the secondleg of his visit to the United Kingdom from Sept 29 to Oct 1 after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

His first-leg visit was from Sept 21 to 25.

To a question, Dr Mahathir said the losses of billions of ringgit during his first premiership were due to foreign currency trading.

“Well, at that time, they didn’t prove that I took any money, but we did lose money because some of our people got involved in trading currencies and they lost money,” he said.

To a question that he had brought “old guards” into his administration, Dr Mahathir said he needed experienced people to help him administer the country.

“If I cannot bring back people who had served me, then I think I have to rely on people with no experience.

“The people who joined me, they had the same opinion about Najib’s government.

“They wanted to join together, form a coalition and beat Najib.”

On his relationship with Anwar, Dr Mahathir said they have put their past behind.

“It was necessary for me to work with him to oust Najib as the prime minister, so both of us decided to forget about the past, because this was far more important to focus on and nothing else.”

Dr Mahathir reiterated that Anwar would be his successor.

On affirmative action, Dr Mahathir said the new government would continue with affirmative action to correct the disparity in wealth between Malays and other races.

He said he foresaw tension in Malaysia if the disparity grew bigger.

On claims of discrimination of other ethnic groups due to the policy, Dr Mahathir said: “No, there has been no discrimination because if you go to Malaysia, you will find the socalled victims of this policy are now the richest people in Malaysia.”

That system has had five prime ministers before him and there was no accusation of corruption of that scale... TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD

Prime minister