“I can list the items that were withdrawn. Even those which had no relation to the government were withdrawn. They were forced to withdraw.
“It is not true that nothing was withdrawn,” he told reporters after speaking at a 90-minute dialogue titled “The Nature of Leadership in Our Digital Future” at the Perdana Leadership Foundation (PLF) here today.
Mahathir, who is Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, cited how a private university was asked to remove him as a chancellor.
The PPBM chairman also denied that payments had been made to his escorts, or those who had escorted him when he went overseas.
“What escort? They have already withdrawn those. The one still around is my aide-de-camp. That is not an escort.
“The UTK (bodyguard service by the Special Action Unit) and the escorts have been withdrawn. The housemaid has been changed. The officer here has been changed.”
He was commenting on a statement by the Prime Minister’s Department that the government had never withdrawn any services provided to former prime ministers, including Mahathir.
According to the department, Mahathir’s office had been provided with different postings covering his office at PLF and his residence at Mines Resort City, Selangor, in line with the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act 1980.
It said a total of 21 postings were allocated for Mahathir, all of which were borne by the government, including salaries, claim allowances and other services for which he qualified as a civil servant.
In a Facebook post on Nov 1, Mahathir claimed that the police had withdrawn the personal bodyguard service provided for his protection by the UTK.
This came a year after Putrajaya ended the contracts of his cook and office assistant.
However, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun was quoted by Utusan Malaysia as saying that Mahathir still enjoyed the special right to official protection.
He said only a few ordinary members of the security escort team had been directed to return to the unit’s base to be posted for duties elsewhere.
“It is not true at all. The personal bodyguards, comprising UTK officers, are still serving with Dr Mahathir,” he said.
“Only some ordinary members have been called back for other assignments. This is a normal procedure.”
Mahathir, who led the country from 1981 to 2003, was Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister. He quit Umno last year and is now chairman of the opposition coalition.