Dr M ready to lend Najib a hand in ‘May 13 suit’

 

Mahathir Mohamad says he is willing to back Najib Razak if he sues over claims that the younger man’s father Abdul Razak Hussein had been involved in the May 13 race riots.

PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has offered a rare hand to his perennial target Najib Razak, saying he would back the younger man if he took action over insinuations against his father Abdul Razak Hussein.

All three have been prime ministers of Malaysia.

Mahathir said he would “back” Najib if the latter took legal action over an implied claim in former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ memoirs that Razak was behind the 1969 race riots.

In a Facebook post, Mahathir said Najib should sue Thomas for vilifying Razak, a well-respected Malay leader.

“For this, I will back him,” he said, bringing a new twist to the long-running spat between the two.

Thomas, in his recently released memoirs, had linked the deadly May 13 riots to a coup by Razak, the nation’s second prime minister.

Mahathir also told Najib to prepare the “relevant facts” to haul Thomas to court for linking the Pekan MP to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in his book.

The Langkawi MP’s post is the latest in the to-and-fro skirmish between the two on social media which started after Najib laughed off Mahathir’s claim in an interview that the latter had not interfered in the country’s judiciary during his first stint as prime minister.

This led to Mahathir telling Najib to focus on his 1MDB corruption cases. He also touched on anti-Chinese remarks which Najib had allegedly made.

In response, Najib denied the allegation, stressing he had dismissed the claim several times, including at the Dewan Rakyat.

Mahathir said today he accepted Najib’s denial. “I too have denied interfering in the judiciary several times.”

Najib has said he will sue Thomas for what he claims are defamatory statements linking him to Altantuya’s murder. Umno has also lodged a police report over the Razak coup claim. - FMT