MAHATHIR WANTS NATIONAL REFERENDUM ON NAJIB AND HIM

The former Prime Minister offers to keep quiet on Najib’s financial scandals if he loses the national referendum.

(FMT) – What would really convince the people would be a national referendum or poll in which every voter in the country can express his support for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or him, said former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in his latest blog posting. “It would also be useful to show how I was wrong in exposing Najib’s financial scandals.”

Just a simple question would suffice: Najib-tick, Mahathir-cross or the other way around, depending on who one supports, added the former Prime Minister. “The people are familiar with voting.”

The referendum should be conducted by a reliable foreign public opinion company, overseen by representatives of the two people concerned, he ventured.

Mahathir pledged that he would give an undertaking that if Najib won the national referendum, he would stop asking him to resign. “I will not say anything more about 1MDB, the RM2.6 billion and the mansions in UK, US and Hollywood or the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ pornographic film.”

“Najib can continue to be the Malaysian Prime Minister for Life.”

However, if he get more votes, it means the rakyat accepts what he has highlighted about Najib’s financial wrongdoing as true, said Mahathir. “He should resign.”

“This way we can settle the question of Najib’s popularity and what the rakyat thinks of his financial scandals once and for all.”

The alternative was to wait for the National Security Council (NSC) Act to be signed by the Agong or to wait for one month if he doesn’t, when the Act would be enforceable, said the former Prime Minister. “Then, Najib can arrest and detain me without trial as a pesky ex-Prime Minister.”

“I am getting messages that this is what awaits me if I don’t cease and desist, if I don’t tone down.”

The “free press” in Malaysia meanwhile thinks Najib was getting stronger and more people are supporting him, noted Mahathir. “Just look at the pictures of the people supporting him.”

“They all wear red shirts and some Umno leaders show placards with ‘Solidariti bersama Najib’.”

Obviously, said Mahathir, their show of support was “spontaneous, so spontaneous that they immediately bought the red shirts and printed the ‘Solidarity with Najib’ cards in time for the photographers”.

Najib was “really very popular”, “conceded” Mahathir. “Some recalcitrants may not think so.”

“Even a red-shirted demonstration organised by Jamal Yunos, participated in by Felda people brought by bus and given free meals to counter the Bersih demo which according to Najib’s supporters were organised by the Chinese to overthrow a Malay Government, has not convinced people about Najib’s popularity.”

Mahathir, elsewhere, also touched on his “sacking” by Petronas. “The decision was made by the Cabinet.”

“It must be very important to the government.”

The former Prime Minister pointed out that he actually resigned from Petronas quite some time ago. “Petronas refused to accept my resignation or the allowance which I sent back.”

“They insisted on putting into my monthly allowance into my account.”

He explained that he resigned then because he does not think that he should be “a non-advising adviser and being paid for doing nothing”. “Najib’s supporters also want to have me sacked from Proton and the Perdana Leadership Foundation (PLF).”

These two do not belong to the government, stressed Mahathir. “Of course, that’s a minor obstacle for a government which can charge anyone under a law to curb terrorism.”

“Nasty things can be done, like threatening to bankrupt Proton or harassing the people who set up PLF so that I would be thrown out. Of course, this was entirely ‘democratic’.”