FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has chosen to rejoin the political fray to oust Barisan Nasional because he has been “betrayed” by his former protege, Najib Razak.

“This election is personal. I feel betrayed by him, I can’t help it. Najib cannot separate personal things from political workings,” Dr Mahathir told The Guardian in an interview.

 He told the British daily Najib had banned anyone in government, even those whom Dr Mahathir had known for years, from being in contact with him.

As to why Dr Mahathir wished to topple Najib, he said : “Why do I want to remove Najib? I should have thought the whole world would know.“This man steals money. Not a few hundred dollars, not a few thousand dollars – he stole billions of dollars and that has been verified by investigations here in Malaysia and the US.

“Najib has made Malaysia among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world and we have evidence to show, evidence that he has covered up under the Official Secrets Act and banned people from talking about (it). He’s using money to buy up people. He told me himself that ‘cash is king’, told me that ‘with money I can do whatever I like’.”

Dr Mahathir, who is the Pakatan Harapan prime minister designate, begs to differ. Should he gain power, he said, he would make sure those implicated in the embezzlement and money laundering scandal were prosecuted.

He said the first thing he would do upon gaining power would be to reclaim the allegedly stolen billions, some of which have been confiscated by the US, Switzerland and Singapore, after which the culprits would be brought to book.

“If we find he has broken the law and stolen money, as the evidence shows then, yes, we will make sure he faces charges in court,” says Mahathir. “If Najib is found guilty, then of course due process will be carried out.”

Dr Mahathir was talking about the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, in which Najib, its former chairman, is implicated. The US Department of Justice allege billions of dollars were siphoned from the state investor to fund the lifestyles of Malaysia official no. 1 and his jet-setting cohorts.

Malaysia has denied the allegations and the attorney-general has cleared Najib of wrongdoing.

In response to Dr Mahathir’s allegations, a Barisan Nasional spokesman told the Guardian Mahathir’s “22-year self-confessed dictatorship has been a series of evasions, outright lies and claims of memory loss”.

The Mahathir administration was not untroubled by corruption scandals, said the article. According to Malaysian Maverick author, Barry Wain, RM100 million went missing on Mahathir’s watch.

“There was corruption that happened when I was prime minister but not on this scale,” Dr Mahathir said. 

On his new political ally, Anwar Ibrahim and whether the de facto PKR leader deserved to be jailed for sodomy, Dr Mahathir said: “I’m a Muslim, we don’t accept that.

 “You can be a liberal and accept same-sex marriage and all that, but that’s your business. We are very orthodox people.”

So does he believe Anwar is gay? “Well that is what the police told me,” he said. “I didn’t examine him, but I am dependent on the police and I have to accept their evidence.” – May 2, 2018.