PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak has called out the irony in Dr Mahathir Mohamad, described as “Mr ISA”, accusing Anwar Ibrahim of being a dictator.
“Mr ISA calling others a dictator,” said a posting on Najib’s Facebook account, in reference to the use of the now-abolished Internal Security Act during Mahathir’s term as prime minister from 1981 to 2003.
The posting came hours after Mahathir had called Anwar’s government a “dictatorship” after the cancellation of a “Malay Proclamation” event featuring Mahathir, which was scheduled for today.
Mahathir accused the government, led by a Malay, of silencing the right of Malays to gather and have their voices heard.
In response, the Najib posting cited a list of things Mahathir had done to Najib and his family when Mahathir was prime minister of a Pakatan Harapan government from 2018-2020.
“Blocked (Najib) and his family from leaving the country, mounted roadblocks along the streets near his home,” it read, referring to events that occurred after Barisan Nasional lost power in the 2018 general election.
“Waited until the eve of Ramadan to invite the media to conduct live coverage of his house being searched, and then searched his home for several days.”
At the time, Najib was being investigated for his role in the 1MDB scandal. Both Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor were blacklisted from leaving the country.
The posting also pointed out that Mahathir had replaced the attorney-general, head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the chief judge, the governor of Bank Negara, and the inspector-general of police soon after rising to power again.
“Do what Mahathir did to Najib and his family, only then are you worthy of being called a dictator,” the posting said.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year jail term in Kajang prison after he was convicted of corruption and abuse of power in the SRC International case linked to 1MDB.