Who after Najib? It’s still a blank with Dr M

‘No, no, no, there’s no name’, he says when asked about Zaid Ibrahim’s mention of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

(FMT) – The Citizens’ Declaration movement has yet to come up with the name of a candidate suitable to replace Prime Minister Najib Razak, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad last night.

“No, no, no, there’s no name,” the former premier said last night, when asked about Zaid Ibrahim’s call for support of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the deputy prime minister.

Zaid, a joint founder of the Save Malaysia movement, had written in a blog article on Tuesday that Zahid, an Umno vice-president, was the likely candidate to become the next prime minister.

He had urged the public to give Zahid a chance, saying that although some of his friends in the Opposition camp did not agree on Zahid, he couldn’t be worse than Najib.

He said Zahid tended to show too much of his Islamic and Malay leanings. “Sometimes those responsible for managing his image do not position him well as a potential Prime Minister for all,” wrote Zaid. “But that can be overcome. He is actually a nice person.”

On another issue, Dr Mahathir said he would not apologise for harping on the RM2.6 billion deposit in Najib’s personal bank accounts in 2013 which the government says was a donation from Saudi Arabia.

Dr Mahathir had been challenged to apologise after the Saudi foreign minister acknowledged that the money was a donation with no conditions.

“Najib is the one who should apologise,” he told reporters while at a walkabout in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. He asked for proof, saying that words alone did not count.

Dr Mahathir has previously alleged that the money had come from the government’s investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd.