Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said this when commenting on a statement made by socio-anthropologist Prof Shamsul Amri Baharuddin.
Shamsul, in an interview with FMT, claimed that various measures by the Opposition, including Mahathir, to discredit Najib Razak had only made the prime minister stronger.
“He is attacking Mahathir for using the foreign media to talk about 1MDB, a move which he said will be rejected by Malaysians. He also said Najib is stronger because we relied on them.
“But if it wasn’t for the international news agencies, we would not even know of the troubles faced by 1MDB.
“Is he suggesting we depend on New Straits Times, TV3 and Utusan Malaysia? These agencies are owned by the Government so they would not have disclosed the truth,” said the former Umno minister when contacted by FMT.
Zaid then questioned Shamsul’s deduction, saying it was baseless and, perhaps, derived from the latter’s support for the Barisan Nasional-led Government.
“He was implying that BN will win the twin by-elections of Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar with bigger majorities. I don’t believe that, unless all Malays are like him.
“The statement was perhaps made in light of tomorrow’s by-elections.”
Shamsul also pointed out that Mahathir’s Citizens’ Declaration this year, calling for the resignation of Najib, was another mistake.
To this Zaid said, “I don’t think so. Malaysians will rally against Najib and instead of blaming Mahathir, we should thank him and the foreign media for highlighting 1MDB matters.”