“He is prepared to be questioned by investigators but without compromising his right to explain to the court should there be a prosecution,” Mohamed Hanif Khatri Abdulla told FMT.
He said Mahathir had been questioned by police four times over the last few years and had assisted investigators as required under the law.
Hanif said Mahathir had explained his use of the ethnic group’s name when criticising Najib Razak whose family has Bugis ancestry.
Mahathir had said it was Najib who first declared himself as a “Bugis warrior” in a speech in June.
Hanif said Mahathir had since then used the term to criticise only Najib, and not the community.
The 92-year-old left Umno last year and withdrew support for Najib following the alleged theft of money from state investment arm 1MDB.
Hanif was responding to the Selangor Royal Council’s call for Mahathir to be investigated under the Sedition Act or any other appropriate law over his remark about the Bugis.
Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor said investigation papers had been opened.
In a statement yesterday, Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said that, after discussions with members of the council, he viewed with utmost seriousness, anger and disappointment the speech of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman which appeared to incite the people to hate, show contempt and negatively perceive the Bugis.
“This allegation indirectly insulted the ancestral roots of the Selangor sultanate which was founded by the Bugis,” said the statement.
Mahathir, addressing the “Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy” rally at Padang Timur here on Oct 14, criticised Najib as a “descendant of Bugis pirates”.
Following criticisms by the Bugis Malay Solidarity Association of Malaysia, the former prime minister denied any intention to insult all Bugis descendants.