Dr M: No guarantee on successor

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says that he cannot give any guarantee on the people picked to be his successor.

He said that he will one day leave and a replacement will take over his post.

“I cannot guarantee. When I picked Abdullah (former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), I thought he was good because he was religious, but look at what he did.

“Then, his replacement was Najib (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), Tun Razak’s (second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein) son, an icon. Surely he will be good.

“But look what has happened,” he said during the Bicara Minda Sinar Harian forum, which was moderated by journalist and former Media Prima chairman Tan Sri Johan Jaaffar here yesterday.

Dr Mahathir said he could only promise that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will take over when he resigns as prime minister.

Dr Mahathir also described the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as an act of “extreme cruelty”.

Malaysia, he said, does not support the killing of government cri­tics.

“This is extreme cruelty, and it is not acceptable. We too have people that we do not like, but we don’t kill them.

“Last time I too was one of those people who were not liked. If we have a system like the Arabs, maybe we too will be unable to speak (freely) today,” he said.

Khashoggi, a columnist with the Washington Post, went missing after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2.

Regarding the court charges against Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Dr Mahathir said the former deputy prime minister must show proof that he has not done anything wrong and that his case was not politically motivated.

“Show proof if he did not do anything wrong, if the 45 charges were made up.

“If he shows that he did not steal any money and that people were the ones that gave him the money, then show proof and the documents.

“Only then they can accuse us (the government) that we are indicting them because it is politically motivated,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said the charges were filed by Attorney General Tommy Thomas and not by him.

He added that Thomas would have filed the charges against Dr Ahmad Zahid because he had proof, and that such evidence would also have to be accepted by the court.

“If the charges had no proof and it went to the court, then the lawyer will win,” he said.

Last Friday, Dr Ahmad Zahid claimed trial to 45 charges of money laundering involving RM72mil and criminal breach of trust and accepting bribes involving RM42mil.

However, some Umno supporters have hurled accusations that the charges were a form of political persecution and “revenge” by Paka­tan Harapan.