BNBBC chief accuses Dr M of hypocrisy with NYT interview

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 ― A senior Umno lawmaker has criticised Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for resorting to foreign media interviews to attack Datuk Seri Najib Razak, pointing out that the former prime minister shunned the foreign press during his tenure and told others to do so.

BN Backbenchers chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad said Dr Mahathir went against his own principles by going to the international media such as the New York Times.

“During his premiership, he kept telling others not to talk to or trust foreign media because they have their own agenda and that they are controlled by a group with certain interests, but now he has stooped so low that he abandoned his own principles just to get at Najib,” Sharir was quoted saying by newspaper News Straits Times.

The Johor Baru MP said that Dr Mahathir had to turn to speaking to foreign press as there was not much traction gained locally over his attacks on Najib.

“He certainly must be so upset and bent on bringing Najib down that he had to resort to this,” Sharir added.

Shahrir also debunked the allegation a deliberately made up scenario by Mahathir in the interview where he stated that “the little napoleons in Umno try to keep out people who are more intelligent than themselves”.

In an interview published the NYT yesterday, Dr Mahathir reiterated the criticisms he has directed at Najib over recent months, again insisting that the latter must resign as prime minister.

Dr Mahathir is demanding Najib’s resignation over the troubled finances of 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which has racked up RM42 billion in debt that it is struggling to repay despite billions in land bought cheaply from the government.

Source: The Malay Mail