Razaleigh stays out of Mahathir-Najib feud

Gua Musang MP says he will hold on to the truth: ‘I am with my party, I will consider what Umno decides’.

(FMT) – Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has reiterated that he is not taking sides in the power struggle between former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Razak.

However, he would consider any decision by Umno, so long as it abides by the federal constitution, he said in an interview with the Malay-language daily Sinar Harian.

Tengku Razaleigh, who is MP for Gua Musang, said he was impartial in the continuing battle between Dr Mahathir and Najib, in which Dr Mahathir has spearheaded efforts over the past year for Najib’s ouster.

“I don’t support anyone. I am an Umno member and I am with my party. How can I support someone who is no longer with the party, even if we may share the same views?,” he said of Dr Mahathir, who left Umno two months ago.

“I will consider what Umno decides. I cannot support it if it goes against the law because as a parliamentarian, I have taken an oath to defend the federal constitution. I cannot support untruths,” he was quoted as saying.

Tengku Razaleight also reserved judgment about the government’s investment arm, 1Malaysia Development Bhd, whose financial problems have been the subject of Dr Mahathir’s campaign against Najib.

“This is a matter of truth and I hold on to the truth. Right now, we don’t know what the (Auditor-General’s) report says because it is still a secret under the Official Secrets Act,” he said.

The Auditor-General’s report into 1MDB submitted to parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, were not made public. The committee’s chairman, Hasan Ariffin, had earlier said the report would be declassified and tabled along with the committee’s report.