Why ‘ambush’ PM if answers not wanted, Salleh asks Dr M

Salleh Said Keruak says all Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants is for Najib Razak to resign because of the 1MDB controversy.

PETALING JAYA: If Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not interested to hear what the prime minister has to say about the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy, why then “ambush” Najib Razak at last Friday’s dialogue, asked Salleh Said Keruak.

The Sabah State Speaker asked this question when referring to the former premier’s remarks today that he was “not really interested” to hear any explanation that Najib might have on 1MDB.

“Therefore what is the purpose of a dialogue or debate?” Salleh asked in regard to Mahathir showing up without invitation for the Nothing2Hide event in which Najib was to hold a dialogue with various NGOs.

At an impromptu press conference Mahathir held after the event was abruptly called off, he said he came specifically to the event to confront Najib on several issues pertaining to 1MDB.

Drawing his own conclusions in light of Mahathir’s latest remark, Salleh said in his blog posting, “The only thing Dr Mahathir wants is for Najib to resign and, as Dr Mahathir said, Najib can return as Prime Minister later once 1MDB has been given a clean bill of health.”

Saying this was not a practical suggestion, Salleh explained, “Once a Prime Minister resigns and hands over to his successor he stays resigned.

“There is no coming back unless he does so as the de facto Prime Minister and runs the country from behind the scenes.”

He also defended Najib’s decision to stay away from the dialogue, arguing that it had been turned into an impromptu debate that was “improper” as he was the prime minister of the country and had to protect the “dignity of his office”.

“A Prime Minister should not be invited for a function and then the function is secretly changed to something else without his knowledge or prior agreement.”