Kuala Lumpur - In one of its campaigns, Malaysia's opposition leader, Mahathir Mohamad, calls himself responsible for Najib Razak's rise to Malaysia's Prime Minister (PM). Mahathir apologized to the public for it and said he wanted to correct his mistake.
As reported by media Singapore, Channel News Asia, Tuesday (8/5/2018), this statement was made Mahathir (92) while speaking in the campaign of Pandan Village in Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur on May 1 last.
"The biggest mistake I made in my life was choosing Najib," Mahathir said in his speech at the time.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to fix this error so I will try my best," he added.
Mahathir's remarks reminded the public of his regrets that he also expressed about the former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister who succeeded him in 2004, Abdullah Badawi. It is known that Mahathir was the longest Malaysian PM from 1981 to 2003. Mahathir announced his retirement in 2004 and the position of Prime Minister of Malaysia was held by Badawi who was then his deputy.
Najib Razak, then Minister of Defense, was appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Badawi. At that time, Mahathir supported Najib to take over power from Badawi. Najib has been elected and has been Prime Minister of Malaysia since 2009.
In the last few years, when Najib was mentioned in the mega-corruption scandal of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Mahathir criticized him. In 2016, Mahathir quit the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party that has been sheltering for a long time. He formed his own party called the Unified Individual Party of Malaysia (PPBM).