PETALING JAYA: The criticism coming from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is "unfair or misleading", Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak (pic) said in a post on his blog Wednesday.
"Tun has echoed malicious opposition rumours concerning my wife and family. For example, in a recent speech in Ipoh, he cited a fictitious statement that the opposition has been peddling through the use of a doctored Utusan article," said Najib in his post on www.najibrazak.com
He added that the former prime minister had "regurgitated a false smear started by the Opposition at the time of the last general election" that his wife owned a RM24mil ring.
"It is a lie, and the company that owned the ring clarified in detail at the time that such a ring was never bought by Rosmah. It is regrettable that someone of Tun's stature should pass on such slander to the people," said Najib.
Najib also refuted Mahathir's claims about the replacement Government jet.
"He echoed the Opposition in raising the replacement Government jet, claiming that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong does not use the jet, calling me a liar. But again this is false, His Majesty was in fact the first VIP passenger to use the newly arrived aircraft for a trip to Langkawi, and will continue to do so," said Najib.
He also rebutted Dr Mahathir's statements about the challenges faced by Government investment arm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), calling Dr Mahathir 's claim that he was responsible for a loss of RM42bil as a "deliberate twisting of the facts".
"1MDB has not made a loss of this amount. This is the amount of its total debt; debt that is far exceeded by the company's assets of RM51bil, as audited and confirmed by Deloitte. Most large companies around the world have high levels of debt, there is nothing unusual about this," said Najib.
He also refuted claims by Dr Mahathir that he has not answered issues surrounding 1MDB, saying that he had instructed the Auditor-General to conduct an audit of 1MDB and present the results to the Public Accounts Committee.
"This should ensure that the process is transparent, and all questions that have been asked of the company are independently answered by legitimate bodies rather than politically motivated sources," said Najib.
He said that while Dr Mahathir often claims he is acting based on what people tell him, he should check if the claims hold any water before airing them.
"He knows well that many allegations were made about what happened under his administration. And always Tun's answer was 'where is the proof?'. He should be applying the same test to what he hears," said Najib.
He added that much of what was said by Dr Mahathir lacked objectivity and was "downright wrong".
He questioned Dr Mahathir's motivation in choosing now to repeat allegations created by the opposition groups he once denounced as liars.
"It is wrong for Tun and any party members to undermine today's party leadership just because their personal wishes are not met. The interests of the people and the party are far more important than any one individual," said Najib.
He said that during Dr Mahathir's 22 years in power he had always insisted that party members support the leadership, especially during trying times.
"We did our part then, and I supported him through thick and thin. I did so because I believed then, as I do now, that party unity is a prerequisite for what we want to achieve for the country," said Najib.
He added that the vast majority of Umno members still recognise that real loyalty means working together to build the party for the good of the rakyat, before pointing out that he was democratically elected by Umno and the people of Malaysia to lead the party and the nation.
"I have their mandate and I am answerable to the party and the people, not to any one individual. At the next general election and party election, the party and the rakyat can exercise their democratic rights through the ballot box," said Najib.
He added that as he was democratically elected, he would complete his term as Umno president and Prime Minister.
"My priority is to ensure that we achieve Vision 2020 and the economic, governmental and political transformation that will benefit all Malaysians," said Najib.
