Najib didn’t speak to me for six months, Dr M claims
(Malay Mail Online) – A dinner discussion between Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that ended in questions over the prime minister’s reasons for delaying the Crooked Bridge project resulted in a six-month freeze in communication, the latter claimed in an interview.
Dr Mahathir told an exclusive interview with Perak Today that the freeze-out only ended after Najib spoke to “Adnan Pahang” and decided then that “we should talk to each other again”.
“One day, he (Najib) invited me to dinner. Then after dinner, I had a four-eye meeting with him and I asked why haven’t we done the project.
“He said there was an agreement regarding the Causeway and we cannot touch the Causeway unless there is an agreement between both sides,” Dr Mahathir was heard relating in a clip of the interview uploaded yesterday on Perak Today’s YouTube page.
“I said — show me the agreement. (But) No, there is no such agreement,” he claimed.
“So there were a few things. For six months, he didn’t talk to me. Until he had a chat with Adnan Pahang, and then he decided that we should talk to each other again,” Dr Mahathir continued, likely referring to Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob.
Dr Mahathir also maintained that his disappointment in Najib’s refusal to build the Crooked Bridge was not because he stood to gain anything from it.
He pointed out that he was not seeking the award of any project.
The issue, he said, repeating his words from a previous interview with blogger Din Turtle, was about “national pride”.
“I don’t want to kowtow to Singapore…. so when I find that somebody is kowtowing to Singapore… and want to ask Singapore’s agreement to do things in our country… where is our sovereignty? Where is our independence?
“Are we a part of Singapore? Even when we want to build a railway line, we have to ask Singapore. Why?” he asked.
“Are we independent or a colony of Singapore? I have my national pride. I do not want to bow to anyone,” the former prime minister added.
Najib told TV3 in a televised interview last Thursday that Dr Mahathir had wanted the BR1M policy scrapped and the “Crooked Bridge” to be revived — two issues that he said could have been part of the reason why the former prime minister has become more vocal in his criticisms towards him.
The so-called “Crooked Bridge” was Dr Mahathir’s idea to replace the Causeway, but was discontinued by his successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and believed to be among reasons why the latter was hounded out of office by the man who put him there.
In recent remarks, Dr Mahathir said he could no longer remain silent and that the days for diplomacy have long passed, adding he will now push for Najib’s resignation openly.
He said the prime minister’s refusal to address allegations such as those surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and linking him to the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu put Barisan Nasional’s (BN) rule at risk.
