Putrajaya, March 28 — Dr Mahathir Mohamad has given Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim seven days to retract his claim of having amassed wealth for himself and his family members, failing which he said action will be taken.
Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Mahathir described the remarks made at a recent PKR event as “severe slander”.
He was referring to the PKR congress, where in his presidential address, Anwar made a veiled jibe at Mahathir after the former prime minister accused him of trying to silence dissent.
In his speech, Anwar said among others that a “certain person” who had led the country “for 22 years plus 22 months” was now talking about the plight of the Malays.
Mahathir said although Anwar had not named him, it was clear who he meant.
“This is slander, unless he can show proof that I received billions of ringgit and spirited the money abroad, and that I don’t pay taxes,” he said.
“He made many accusations in his speech. Now he is the prime minister, and it is incumbent on the prime minister not to make accusations lightly without clear proof.”
Meanwhile, on Anwar’s failure to meet Saudi de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mahathir who led the country for a total of 24 years said he had always been greeted by the head of state on his official visits overseas.
“This was an official visit. When I was the prime minister, I made official trips to many countries.”
“I was always greeted by the head of state at every country,” he said.
Mahathir said he did not understand why neither Mohammed nor King Salman Abdul Aziz had met with Anwar.
“Perhaps they had views which we do not know of which made them reluctant to meet with Anwar,” he said.
“Those who did meet with Anwar were only low-ranked officials.”
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