Mahathir willing to debate Najib about 1MDB

Former premier continues his campaign with more jibes at PM and wife

IPOH: After weeks of relentlessly campaigning against Najib Razak over the management of 1MDB, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today he is willing to have a debate with the prime minister about the government company, which is reportedly RM42bn in debt.

Speaking at a public forum here, he replied to a question from Tamrin Ghafar by saying: “I believe I still have the ability to debate. So yes, if he wants to.”

Tamrin, son of Mahathir’s former deputy, the late Ghafar Baba, was among a large crowd who attended the forum, one of several that the former prime minister has held in recent weeks as he campaigned for Najib’s resignation.

He said he had been studying the affairs of 1Malaysia Development Bhd since 2009, when the goverment company began as a sovereign wealth fund, taking over from the Terengganu Investment Authority set up to manage oil royalties from Petronas and other matters.

Dr Mahathir said questions had arisen about 1MDB’s purchases of power companies, and its questionable investments in the offshore tax haven Cayman Islands.

“We are asking where is the money, we don’t know where it is, it’s the people’s money,” he was quoted as saying about the RM42bn in debts reportedly incurred by 1MDB.

He also criticised Najib’s BR1M welfare aid scheme and said Najib had replied “cash is king” when he was asked not to provide handouts to the people.

Dr Mahathir said: “The thinking is that we will be better loved when we give money, but the Chinese are not impressed with this, the RM500 is hardly enough to buy their cigarettes. To me cash is not king, instead it is a bribe.”

He also raised questions about Najib’s private wealth and his family lifestyle, another theme of his campaign against the prime minister. He said there were many unanswered questions about the source of the money to support the lavish lifestyle of Najib family, and referred to speculation about rings and handbags worth millions.

“Where is this money from, before you did not have it, now you do,” he said, Malaysian Insider reported. In another remark that appeared to be a reference to Najib’s wife Rosmah, of whom questions had been raised, Dr Mahathir said: “Perhaps a certain person has been saving money to purchase these items since she was young.”