PUTRAJAYA (Jan 22): Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he does not know whether the ongoing criminal investigations involving his family members and those of Tun Daim Zainuddin was a form of revenge by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

At a press conference, the 98-year-old former PM recalled how he and Daim campaigned for Anwar during Anwar’s electoral debut upon release from prison in 2018.

“I don't know whether it is revenge or not,” said Mahathir. “This man [Anwar] was in jail, and when I became prime minister the second time, during my time, he was released. And then he wanted to contest in an election.

“During the contest, I actually campaigned for him, as did Tun Daim [Zainuddin]. Both of us campaigned for him. But after campaigning for him, now he wants to investigate me for wrongdoing.

“Okay, if I did something wrong, please investigate. But don't make use of government law in order to threaten people,” he said.

Mahathir held the press conference on Monday, following an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against Dr Mahathir’s son Mirzan Mahathir which came to light in the third week of January.

Mahathir’s comment alluded to his involvement with current PM Anwar, who returned to the political arena as a sitting MP back in October 2018 after winning a by-election in Port Dickson.

At the time, Dr Mahathir served as prime minister of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, whereas Daim — a former finance minister — chaired a government advisory body dubbed the Council of Eminent Persons.

The relationship between Mahathir and Anwar dated back to the 1980s during their Umno days, with Mahathir serving as PM and Anwar rising up the ranks as deputy prime minister until his sacking in 1998.

The duo reconciled in 2016, with Mahathir joining then-opposition PH in 2017 to topple the Barisan Nasional government in 2018.

Amid a crisis over the handover of Mahathir’s PM post to Anwar in 2020, Mahathir’s party Bersatu exited PH while Mahathir resigned as PM, both of which prompted the fall of the PH government.

Mahathir officially cut ties with Bersatu, and currently serves as an adviser to the four opposition states Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis and Kedah led by Perikatan Nasional.

 At the press conference, Mahathir questioned the 30-day deadline given to Mirzan on Thursday to declare all movable and immovable assets in his possession, whether inside or outside the country.

“[Mirzan] has to give evidence, from 1981 until now, 42 years, and [he’s been] given 30 days. If more than 30 days, he can be charged, and jailed for five years,” Mahathir said.

In a sarcastic remark, Mahathir also alleged that current senior officials of the government are the ones who are difficult for regulators to investigate, not individuals who bear the country’s highest-ranking federal honorific title “Tun”.

Even non-Tuns are not investigated if they are in the government, alleged the two-time prime minister.

“I am easy to be investigated, because the government has power, I got no power. Those who are hard to be investigated are the prime minister, MACC chief commissioner, deputy prime minister,” he said.

“Deputy Prime Minister [Datuk Seri Ahmad] Zahid Hamidi, [Tan Sri] Azam Baki, they are not Tun, but they cannot be investigated,” he said.

“Why [was] Azam Baki’s brother not instructed to declare all his assets and shares? Azam Baki’s brother should be investigated as well, same goes to the deputy prime minister,” he added.

Apart from Azam Baki’s controversial shares trading saga, Dr Mahathir highlighted the government’s decision to drop charges against Ahmad Zahid.

He further cited the statutory declaration in October 1999 by former Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Datuk Murad Khalid, alleging that Anwar had RM3 billion in more than 20 “master accounts”.

Dr Mahathir's sarcastic comment was in response to a recent statement by Anwar, who reportedly said on Saturday that "it is not easy... to investigate a Tun" amid recent high-profile investigations involving regulators such as the MACC.

Recent investigations by the commission zeroed in on Daim, whose wife Toh Puan Nai’mah Abdul Khalid and their two children were called in to the MACC headquarters earlier this month to have their statement taken in a session that lasted over nine hours.

This following a seizure by the MACC of Menara Ilham in Kuala Lumpur, owned by Daim and his family, in December.

It was previously reported that Daim is under investigation in connection to corporate transactions involving Renong Bhd and United Engineers Malaysia Bhd in the 1990s. A senior MACC source also confirmed with The Edge in late May last year that the anti-graft agency was looking into the deal.

The MACC has reportedly said that its investigations into both Mirzan and Daim stemmed from information based on the Pandora Papers — a leak of documents to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with details of bank accounts and offshore assets of prominent figures including in politics and the corporate world.

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