(Oct 28): Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has challenged Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to contest in a parliamentary seat following the retired leader's repeated calls for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down.

Nazri, the tourism and culture minister, said Dr Mahathir could run against him in his Padang Rengas seat or take Najib on directly in the Pekan constituency.

"Don't talk so much, you (Dr Mahathir) know how to bring him (Najib) down. Fight him in Pekan," Nazri told reporters today in the Parliament lobby.

"If you don't want to fight him, fight me in Padang Rengas," he added with a laugh.

Dr Mahathir has been criticising Najib and asking for his resignation over alleged scandals involving mismanagement in the prime minister's brainchild, state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as well as RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank accounts.

The former prime minister has also accused Najib of being a dictator and undemocratic in his use of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) against 1MDB critics.

Nazri had previously challenged Dr Mahathir to run against Najib in an electoral showdown in both the general election and Umno polls.

In his calls for Najib to step down, Dr Mahathir has also asked voters in Pekan, Pahang, not to re-elect Najib. – The Malaysian Insider