“I was a dictator before. But that is all right. People did not demonstrate against me, unlike what we see today under Najib Razak’s tenure, where he has been asked to resign (as prime minister),” he told reporters after the People Congress here today.

Mahathir led the nation from 1981 to 2003, making him the country’s longest serving prime minister.

He also told reporters it was not up to the Save Malaysia movement to name the new prime minister and reiterated that the group’s main focus was to remove Najib.

Mahathir said by convention the party that held the most number of seats had the power to elect a prime minister and added, “But that does not mean Umno Vice-President and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be the next prime minister, after Najib is ousted.”

Mahathir had earlier said that Najib was a “stumbling block” that needed to be removed if the country wanted institutional reforms to take place, as the present prime minister now used his power to block any investigations.

Mahathir said this included investigations into the alleged misappropriation of funds at 1Malaysia Development Berhad and the RM2.6 billion that was banked into Najib’s personal accounts.