PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has absolved himself of any blame surrounding corruption charges against his former protégé Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak over the 1MDB scandal.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, he said that he did not know that Najib would be charged with corruption.
"At the time when I was supporting him, he appeared to be a good candidate for prime minister," he said.
Dr Mahathir admitted that when he bowed out of politics in 2003, he had no intention of making a comeback into politics.
"But after I stepped down and the new leader took over, a lot of people came to see me, asking me to do something because they were not satisfied with the leadership of my successors," he said.
"Eventually, Datuk Seri Najib took over, but again a lot of people were not happy… so again people came to see me. Asking me to please do something," he said.
He said overthrowing Najib and saving Malaysia were the reasons why he returned to the political arena and joined Pakatan Harapan.
Dr Mahathir said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahin and many others who accused him of previous wrongdoing decided to leave the past in the past.
"We have to come together. The overthrowing of Najib is far more important than our previous quarrels," said Dr Mahathir.
Najib on Wednesday (July 4) pleaded not guilty to a charge of abuse of power and three counts of criminal breach of trust linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal involving millions of ringgit.
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