Come and challenge me or Najib, Nazri tells Dr M

(Malay Mail Online) – Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz today issued a challenge to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to face either him or Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a straight fight come the next general election, if the former prime minister is so adamant that the current administration is defunct.

The tourism and culture minister said Dr Mahathir can settle the score once and for all if he goes head-to-head with Najib in the Pekan parliamentary seat, instead of simply criticising the leader.

“I’ve been challenging him for the past one to two years. Don’t talk so much, you know how to bring him (Najib) down,” Nazri told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby.

“Go fight him (Najib) in Pekan and see. The only way to bring Datuk Najib down is through Pekan,” he added.

If Dr Mahathir is not keen on contesting against Najib, Nazri said he is more than welcome to test his mettle in Padang Renggas.

“Fight him (Najib) in Pekan. If you don’t want to fight him, fight me in Padang Renggas,” Nazri said, referring to his parliamentary constituency.

Nazri acknowledged that Umno has been facing a lot of criticism of late, but brushed it off as the “usual”.

“That’s normal la, since when Umno does not get hantam (attacked). I also get hantam a lot but I still win,” he added.

Dr Mahathir has been one of the most vocal critics of Najib’s administration, especially over the latter’s handling of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fiasco.

Most recently, Dr Mahathir and a clutch of senior Barisan Nasional leaders condemned Putrajaya’s use of anti-terrorism laws to clamp down on former Penang Umno leader Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, who had attempted to get foreign authorities to launch probes on the state-owned firm.