DR Mahathir Mohamad today reiterated that the sacking of Salleh Abas as Lord President was not because of him, saying he was only acting on the orders of the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The former prime minister said the attorney-general at the time, Abu Talib Othman, had framed him to “save the good name of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong”.

“Salleh was fired not because of me (but it was made to seem like so) in order to save the good name of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The A-G at the time… used my name, supposedly saying I ordered (the firing).

“I dare to hold the Quran and swear that I did not order Salleh’s firing. The one who ordered it was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya today.

Dr Mahathir said the matter was triggered when Salleh sent a letter of complaint to the Agong, regarding the noise level from renovations being carried out at the Agong’s private residence.

“The letter was sent by Salleh to the Agong, this letter of complaint, because Salleh’s house was near the Agong’s private residence.

“They were doing some repair works at the Agong’s private residence, causing a lot of noise.

“Because of that, Salleh wrote a letter to the Agong, saying there was too much noise,” he said, adding that Salleh had also sent copies of the letter to other rulers.

He said that was when the Agong decided to fire Salleh.

Dr Mahathir said he had told the Agong that this could be done only by a tribunal.

“The Agong was very angry, and asked me to fire (Salleh). I said it could not be done, and the only way was via a tribunal. The Agong then said, ‘do the tribunal’.

“So, I was doing things that only the Agong can legitimise.”

Dr Mahathir said it was improper for a senior officer to directly address the Agong, and that the original letter was now lost.

“That (writing a letter directly to the Agong) is improper. A senior officer must go and meet the Agong to make a request.

“Salleh’s letter had something written by the Agong on the side, and I took that to the cabinet.

“Eventually, I decided to set up (the tribunal). I had to discuss it with the cabinet.

“The cabinet said we could not do it (have Salleh fired) unless we set up a tribunal, and to set up the tribunal, I had to get the permission of the Agong.

“After that, the letter was given to officials, but today, the letter cannot be found.” – January 3, 2018.