KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday shot down talks of a conspiracy to overthrow Datuk Seri Najib Razak as prime minister, saying there is no covert attempt to unseat him.

Writing in his blog, the vocal former prime minister said he had openly campaigned for Najib to go.

“Is there a conspiracy? Is there someone or some groups conspiring, ie moving in secret in the underground to overthrow Najib?

“There could have been [conspiracies] before, but apart from people complaining privately about their dissatisfaction with Najib’s administration, no one was planning his overthrow.

“They welcomed the idea of him resigning or vacating his post, but active underground planning and action? There was none,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said his open declaration for Najib to go is no conspiracy.

In his typical acerbic style, he said if any investigation is to be made, there is no need for detectives or special agents as the call to remove Najib is known to everyone.

“So again, where is the conspiracy? It is all in the open. There is no need to conspire. There is open campaigning for his ceasing to be prime minister,” he added.

Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister also took a swipe at Najib’s supporters, who had insisted that no one has the right to demand an elected Umno president to go, sarcastically noting their “short memory” in demanding Najib’s predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was also elected, to go.

“How short is their memory? Don’t they remember Abdullah, who was also elected, being asked by Najib to step down? And he did. And I myself, also an elected PM, did step down in 2003,” he said.

Abdullah succeeded Dr Mahathir when the latter retired in 2003, but Barisan Nasional’s (BN) poor showing in the 2008 general election increased calls for him to go. Dr Mahathir started his criticism of Abdullah since 2005, and even quit Umno in protest against Abdullah’s leadership in May 2008, two months after the general election.

Abdullah eventually left office and his deputy Najib took over in April 2009. Dr Mahathir then reapplied to be an Umno member in 2009, after Najib became prime minister.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that all around the world, elected presidents and prime ministers would step down when either asked or forced to. He said in some countries, if anything untoward happens, ministers and prime ministers would resign as well.

“So, don’t be silly and demand that since Najib was elected, no one has a right to ask him to step down. Abdullah won more seats in 2008 than Najib in 2013. If Abdullah was prepared to step down, Najib, after his poor performance in the general election [in 2013], should not even offer to be the PM. He should resign from being president of Umno and head of BN, and let somebody else lead and become PM,” he said.

The retired statesman also waded into the debate over Umno’s amendment to election rules, saying that instead of allowing more members to vote, it is to limit the number of entities involved in the internal polls. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 21, 2015.