As PM, I never sued my critics, says Mahathir
MalaysiaKini.com
Dec 6, 2014

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he never had to resort to legal action against his critics when he was in power.

The country's longest serving PM said he would simply just answer to the people whenever an issue arose.

"Back then, I didn't go to court. I just answer (the critics).

"If I had done the right thing, what is there to be scared of? People will believe you," he told reporters after the Proton design competition in Kuala Lumpur today.

Mahathir was commenting on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who had issued legal notices to opposition MPs Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli.

Earlier this year, Najib also sued Malaysiakini over readers' comments, perhaps the first time a Malaysian prime minister has sued the media.

Mahathir said it was Najib's right if the PM wanted to sue them.

"However, as politicians, getting attacked, criticised, and slandered by people is normal.

"For me, there is no use in going to court but for the prime minister, it may be useful to him," he said.

Najib last month had threatened to sue Pua for his remarks on the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
 
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP had questioned why BN component parties did not dare to challenge Najib, who chairs the 1MDB board of advisors, even though the multi-billion ringgit company was late in submitting its accounts. 
 
Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor had also sent a letter of demand to Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli on Thursday over a speech he made at a rally in Bandar Tun Razak.

Rafizi had criticised the oil subsidy cuts, saying that the leadership of the country was arbitrarily spending taxpayer's money on projects such as 1MDB.

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