DR Mahathir Mohamad today upped the ante in his verbal spat with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he reminded him of the RM230 million in assets he had as Umno Youth chief.

He also alleged that Zahid is not of Malay ancestry in a tit for tat.

“‘Melayu mudah lupa’. Even though Zahid is not of Malay ancestry, has he forgotten his asset declaration to me as prime minister when he was appointed as Umno Youth chief?

“When I asked where did the RM230 million in his account come from, his answer was unclear.

“If he could remember, it is clear from where did he obtain such a large amount of money,” the former prime minister posted on his blog today.

Dr Mahathir, who is Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan chairman, also dared Zahid to show the old identity card which supposedly belonged to him as he did not surrender his old card when the new IC was issued.

Another counter-point, he said, was the fact that the “anak lelaki” (a/l) and “anak perempuan” (a/p) system was a construct of an independent Malaya.

Dr Mahathir said it was to replace the colonial British system, which identified Indian Hindus with similar single-word names by affixing sequential numbers to their names, as it was degrading.

He said Indian Muslims have never had to use either system because their names have two words, thus the name which Zahid said his old IC supposedly showed could not have existed.

“The name as quoted by Zahid does not exist. If the old IC shows the name which was supposedly mine, please show the card to experts so his claim can be proven,” Dr Mahathir said.

Zahid, who is Home Minister, disclosed Dr Mahathir’s old IC details during an Umno Kelana Jaya delegation meeting on Sunday, which allegedly showed his name as “Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty”.

This prompted widespread condemnation including from DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang, once a sworn foe of Dr Mahathir, and several police reports have been lodged against Zahid. – August 1, 2017.