Mahathir: I don’t like Pak Lah but at least he resigned

(FMT) – Prime Minister Najib Razak should have resigned by now given the high number of Malaysians rejecting his administration, said former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

With all the calls for him to step down, Najib can no longer use the excuse of being democratically elected as the reason to continue in office, added Mahathir.

“He (Najib) thinks the people only have power once every five years (during elections) when the rakyat is actually powerful at all times and have the right to change leaders who have damaged the country.”

He said this when speaking at a programme with Amanah in Manong here today.

The nation’s longest serving premier also compared Najib to his predecessor, Abdullah Badawi.

Mahathir said Abdullah knew it was time to back down after delivering Barisan Nasional’s worst performance during the 12th General Election.

“I don’t really like Pak Lah but at least he realised the public felt the same and stepped down.

“And with so many calls urging Najib to resign, he should not pretend to be mute and blind.”

Mahathir, under the Save Malaysia banner, led the Citizens’ Declaration movement in March this year, with the aim of collecting the signatures of Malaysians who have lost confidence in Najib.

So far, Mahathir has claimed to have collected more than 1.2 million signatures.

While in Manong, Mahathir took the opportunity to joke about the welcome he received from Barisan Nasional here and told the 400 people present, “When they were informed of my plan to come here, Umno immediately started to resurface the road.”

The veteran leader also said such actions were normal for BN, as they were only interested in serving the people during elections.

“This is the character of those who are corrupt. They think when they resurface the road, people will come and support them.”

This is the second visit to Kuala Kangsar that Mahathir has made since nomination day for the by-election which will be held on Saturday.

He has been actively campaigning for Amanah’s candidate Dr Ahmad Termizi Ramli.