“I am here to give my statement, and I wish to state that I didn’t have any intention to anger the palace because the statement I made was not meant to insult anyone.

“If the statement offended the Pahang palace, I apologise. But when I listen back to my speech, the issue I raised was that age is not a factor or an obstacle for anyone to be a leader,” he told reporters at the Kedah police contingent headquarters here.

Yesterday, Pahang Regent Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said he was offended by Mahfuz’s comments, and that the politician had gone against Malay values.

Mahfuz, in defending Pakatan Harapan’s nomination of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister, had compared the former leader’s health to that of Sultan Ahmad Shah, who was seen in a video clip, bedridden and receiving visitors.

A police report was lodged against Mahfuz by a Pahang-based organisation.

Kedah CID chief Mior Farid Al Atrash Wahid said Mahfuz was being investigated under the Penal Code and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.