Dr M: Najib destroyed gov't, will take time to rebuild

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today accused his predecessor Najib Abdul Razak of "destroying" the government machinery by abusing it to prop up his regime.

He said this is why many government officers who were involved had to be removed, and it will take time for the government to recover.

“The damage done to the country is far worse than what we suspected. Not only billions of ringgit disappeared, but the government machinery had been sabotaged such that it no longer functions properly.

“We have to remove some of the officers who were involved in sustaining the previous government […] We have to take this action to remove many officers because they have participated in the damages caused by the previous government.

“So, in order to recover, we will need time because the machinery of government has been destroyed because it had been abused by Najib,” he said.

Mahathir was speaking to some 3,000 people in Shah Alam at a fundraising dinner for Tabung Harapan organised by the Coalition of 18 Klang Associations – a group that comprises Klang-based Chinese guilds.

The Pakatan Harapan-led government took power following the outcome of the 14th general election on May 9.

Since then, many key government officers had been replaced, including former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, former MACC chief Dzulkifli Ahmad, former Bank Negara governor Muhammad Ibrahim, and former chief justice Md Raus Sharif.

Many of these officers had resigned, while some others such as Apandi had been sacked. 

In his speech today, Mahathir also reiterated  Harapan’s commitment to upholding the rule of law.

However, he said some laws are unfair and do not protect the interests of businesses and the people, such as the National Security Council Act 2016.

As such, he said the NSC Act will be repealed. - Mkini