(Nov 13): Despite being called up by police and investigated for allegedly asking Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down, an unapologetic Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he would continue to call for the prime minister's resignation.

In a blog posting, Dr Mahathir said he would not be denied his right to continue his criticism against Najib, who had been riddled with allegations of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

"So I will continue to ask Najib to resign, to disbelieve his explanation about how he got the RM2.6 billion, to criticise the loans taken by 1MDB and the losses incurred by it," he said on his popular blog chedet.cc.

"This is my right as a citizen. To deny me of these rights would really be undemocratic."

Dr Mahathir has been Najib's staunch critic in recent times and has openly asked the prime minister to step down over his alleged "failure" to govern the country and the RM2.6 billion "donation" he had received in his accounts as well as the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Dr Mahathir said when he was prime minister, he, too, had been subject of accusations of cronyism and corruption but had taken no action against his detractors as receiving criticism was only "normal".

"I took no action to make any accusation against me a crime. I believe it is normal for such allegations to be made.

"If the people really believed these things about me they could have thrown me out. If I were defeated I would have accepted it. That is the democratic way."

The authorities have opened several investigation papers after police reports were made against the 90-year-old former prime minister, while Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar was also reported as saying that the cops would question him over comments he made at the Bersih 4 rally in August.

These investigations were related to the Penal Code for defamation.

Dr Mahathir, who served as prime minister for 22 years, said that until he was found guilty by the court, he would continue to criticise Najib as he believed he was doing nothing wrong.

"It seems to me and I may be wrong of course, that the kind of questions posed was to stop me from going on to do or say all those things I did.

"If I stop, then Najib would be free from exposure of the wrong things that he has done or will do. People might then forget.

"The courts may decide that I had committed a crime for what I did or said. But until I am found guilty by the courts, I will continue to believe and say that I had done nothing wrong, nothing undemocratic."

He said he did not believe Najib's explanation that the RM2.6 billion was donated by a Middle Easterner as the prime minister had yet to prove that the money was not from 1MDB.

"I openly declared I don’t believe Najib’s RM2.6 billion is a donation from an Arab. I believe it is from 1MDB. Najib has not proven it is not 1MDB money. When you take something that does not belong to you, it is a kind of stealing.

"By saying that Najib had stolen government money, it can only be defamation if he could prove he did not.

"So far, he has not been able to convincingly prove that the RM2.6 billion in his private account did not come from 1MDB and therefore not from the government.

"Defamation is only defamation if you say something that is false about a person. Prove that what I said is false then sue me for defamation. That is the way to go."

Instead Najib had interfered in the investigations into the financial scandals and replaced the previous officers in the probe, Dr Mahathir said, which did not do much for its credibility.

"He has stopped investigations on the RM2.6 billion in his account. That practically proves that he feared the investigations might prove the allegations against him have substance.

"Appointing other people to replace the original officers is interference in the work of the investigators. The replacements do not create credibility." – The Malaysian Insider