'Does Dr M want probe to cover Abdullah, too?'

Hours after former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad insisted that any investigation into financial scandals during his tenure should cover 'all Tuns', DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has questions if Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should be probed as well.

In a statement, Lim described Mahathir’s statement as a 'positive' response to his proposal for a full audit into the loss of public funds due to financial scandals during Mahathir's 22 years in office.

"I will endorse Mahathir's further defining the scope and extent of the investigation into the RM100 billion losses caused by the financial scandals when he was prime minister.

"The other Tun I can think of is Tun Daim Zainuddin, who was Mahathir's finance minister twice and played a key role in many of the financial scandals in the Mahathir era.

"Are there any other Tuns who should be investigated in the full audit and accounting into the losses caused by the financial scandals in Mahathir's era?" Lim asked.

At an event this morning, Mahathir responded to Lim's call by saying that "all the Tuns and their sons and grandsons" should be audited.

"From media reports, it would appear that one other Tun who Mahathir is referring to (and) who should be investigated is his successor, Abdullah,” said Lim.

"It is for Mahathir to make clear whether he also wants a full audit and accounting into financial losses which occurred during Abdullah's five-year premiership.”

The Ipoh Timor MP pointed out that if a royal commission of inquiry into the matter is set up, it could seek the truth behind former Malaysia Airlines executive chairman Tajudin Ramli's affidavit, that he was directed by Mahathir and Daim in 1994 to buy a controlling stake in the national carrier to bail out the government.

Tajudin had claimed that it was 'national service' to bail out Bank Negara after the central bank suffered massive foreign exchange losses due partly to speculation in foreign currency markets with an "overriding agreement" to indemnify him against any losses suffered.