CONVICTED Najib Razak could become prime minister again if Malaysians fail to vote in the general election, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad. 

“If you ask me, could he make a comeback, I’d say that it is a possibility. Najib can get a royal pardon and he can contest and he can be prime minister again if his party wins,” he said today at the launch of his book, Capturing Hope in Kuala Lumpur.

The 96-year-old, who was prime minister twice, added the next general election will determine whether Malaysia could ever be free of corruption. 

“This election is going to be extremely important. Either you use it to get rid of crooks or allow them to come back. If they win this will mean the end of the fight to end corruption as the corrupt government then will stay in power through corruption.”

He said although many Malaysian say they are fed up with the country’s politics, the corrupt will win if people do not vote.

“If you don’t come out to vote against those people, they will form the government as they will bring their supporters.

“These supporters will support them as they will be paid money. Those against corruption and who want good governance must come out in numbers to vote for people who do not have baggage of crimes and abuse of power. The next election is going to be very important.

“The next elections will be Malaysia’s last chance to clean up the country. If not, you will forever have bad governments,” said the former Pakatan Harapan chairman, who now heads opposition party Pejuang but is not part of the coalition.

On why he thought Najib could stage a comeback, Dr Mahathir said many “strange things” had happened during the Perikatan Nasional and Barisan Nasional administrations.

“When Anwar Ibrahim was arrested, he was detained all the time even before the charges were made. 

“But in the case of Najib, although he is found guilty by the courts of law, he is not treated as a convict but as a free man,” Dr Mahathir said. 

“Najib goes to Parliament to make speeches, campaigns (in elections) and even goes out of the country. Lots of things have been done by the last two governments that have never been done before.

Dr Mahathir said he expects the general election to be held sometime mid-2022, before the term expires the following year. – December 12, 2021.