Dr M: No way to assess public support for my battle

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it is not easy to ascertain how much public support he has in his crusade against his successor Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"(Divisional chiefs are) keeping quiet because they have to support the prime minister.

"(At the general level), lots of people come up to me and say 'we support you', but that's what they say.

"But they are also scared to be heard saying they support me," Mahathir said in an interview with Bloomberg in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 25.

The police are investigating him for potential defamation and paid him a visit at his office in Putrajaya last week.

On Monday, Mahathir announced his resignation from Umno - the second time he is leaving the party - in protest against the sitting prime minister.

This was a few days after the Umno supreme council voted to suspend party deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, who, like Mahathir, has also been critical of Najib and the 1MDB affair.

After Mahathir's announcement, former Batu Kawan Umno division vice-chairperson Khairuddin Abu Hassan (photo) also said he was quitting the party.

Vocal Umno dissidents, made up of several party branch chiefs who call themselves Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia, are also mulling whether to quit the party.

Meanwhile, Mahathir pointed out that the voters are angry over the rising cost of living, with the implementation of GST and the increase in prices of transportation, food and services after the government removed various subsidies.

"The cost of living has gone up because of GST. Toll rates have gone up, the minimum wage has gone up, which means the cost of doing business, the cost of production has gone up," he said.

This would cost Umno votes in the next general election, he warned, even with a splintered opposition.

Despite that, Mahathir declined to name anyone he thought could replace Najib.

'Country reslient because of the people'

"If you don't support BN, obviously the opposition will win by default. Even if the opposition is in disarray.

"This animosity towards Najib is such, their dislike for the policies that he has, if he is removed, I think the country will be able to recover.

"The country is resilient because of the quality of the people who built up this country, it's not because of Najib," the country’s longest-serving prime minister said.

Najib has been plagued by financial scandals involving several large sums of deposits found in his personal bank accounts, which was alleged to be from 1MDB, a claim that Najib and 1MDB have consistently denied.

Last month, attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared Najib of any wrongdoing related to this matter and said the money was a donation from Saudi Arabia.

However, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which first broke news on the RM2.6 billion in Najib's accounts, brought fresh allegations against the prime minister.

The US daily alleged that more than US$1 billion had been deposited into Najib's accounts, with the total including the RM2.6 billion, and that most of it came from 1MDB and not from Saudi Arabia.

Once again, 1MDB has denied this claim, adding that WSJ continues to repeat allegations without conclusive evidence. -Mkini