Najib ignored me for six months, says Mahathir
Published on: Saturday, April 18, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was given the cold shoulder for six months after questioning Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the delay of the "crooked bridge" project in the Johor Strait, the former Prime Minister said.In the exclusive interview, Dr Mahathir said the falling out with Najib happened after the two discussed the matter over dinner.Dr Mahathir said Najib had told him of an agreement with Singapore regarding the Johor Causeway and said Malaysia could not touch the causeway unless Singapore agreed to it.
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"(So I said) 'show me the agreement' (but) there was no such agreement," Dr Mahathir said."For six months he didn't talk to me."Najib did not speak to him until he met with "Adnan Pahang", Dr Mahathir said, possibly referring to Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob.After that, Najib decided to talk to him again, he said in a video interview also posted on the website.
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Dr Mahathir said he then met Najib again and was "very happy" to do so."We discussed. But none of my suggestions were accepted. And he continues to do the things which are wrong. The administration of this country… it is not a rich country. We have to be very careful," he said.
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Dr Mahathir said he did not want to "kowtow" to Singapore about a matter that was Malaysia's sovereign right.He said the bridge could still have been built as it would only stand on Malaysia's side of the Johor Strait."It's our sovereign right. It is in our territorial area, our territorial waters. Half the causeway belongs to us, I'm not touching Singapore's side at all."So when I find that somebody 'kowtows' to Singapore (and) wants to ask for Singapore's agreement to do something in our country, where is our sovereignty? Where is our independence?" he asked.Dr Mahathir questioned if Malaysia was independent or a colony of Singapore, if it had to keep asking for the republic's agreement for projects to be carried out, including the construction of a high-speed railway."Maybe I am a little bit more proud. I have my national pride and I don't want to bow down to anyone," he said.The "crooked bridge", so called because of its curved design, was Dr Mahathir's idea for another link between Johor Baru and Singapore and was first proposed while he was prime minister.Najib, in a pre-recorded television interview aired by TV3 on April 9 had said Dr Mahathir was probably angry at him for not continuing with the project when he became prime minister.But Dr Mahathir responded in a video interview with bloggers that he was not upset with Najib because of the bridge, but that the latter had broken his promise to build it, and also about other issues linked to the latter that have not been answered.These included controversies surrounding the government-owned strategic development fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.Dr Mahathir also said his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had performed better electorally despite having a sleep disorder.He criticised Najib's policy of giving cash handouts under the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) programme even though the aid had not yielded good results for Najib in the general election."And sure enough, Najib gets less support than Pak Lah. Pak Lah who was sleeping got 143, he (Najib) got 130," Dr Mahathir said, referring to the number of seats won in the 12th and 13th general elections.The 12th general election in 2008 was led by Abdullah who was then prime minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, while the next national polls in 2013 was led by Najib.Dr Mahathir told the news portal that spending money on BR1M was akin to bribing people when some of them were not even grateful for it as they continued to reject the BN."The Chinese told me this is bribery and they are not going to vote," he said in the video interview."You give the money, for what, when people still reject outright. It shows that it is not right. We should create jobs, give education, train them, so that they can make money for themselves."He told Perak Today he had tried telling Najib to stop the cash aid programme, which gives handouts to households earning not more than RM4,000 a month."He spends money in a way that is not right to me, almost looks like bribing people with BR1M. I don't think it was right so I tried to tell him to stop BR1M."You don't want to make people dependent upon the government. You want them to work for themselves."Dr Mahathir added that Malaysia was able to reduce its poverty rate by creating jobs.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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