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The Australian today noted the "extraordinary about-face for the famously nationalistic 91-year-old" well-known for rejecting foreign interference in Malaysia's politics during his lengthy administration.
“Normally I don’t like foreign interference in Malaysian affairs but our avenues for redress have been closed completely (both within the party and through draconian laws now used to intimidate critics),” he was reported saying.
He was speaking to the Australian daily's weekend magazine The Weekend Australian in an interview at his office in Putrajaya.
Mahathir said he had little hope Najib would step down without external pressure.
“So now we have to allow foreign interference in our domestic affairs.
"If it is legal, legitimate, yes. If they have information, they should give information," he said.
He added authorities abroad should not stop probing money laundering even if investigations involve the prime minister.
Australia's silence slammed
The ex-Umno veteran and long time party chief also criticised the Australian government's indifference to the scandals rocking Malaysia.
“The Australian government doesn’t seem to want to annoy the Malaysian prime minister," he was reported saying.
“The (Australian) media has exposed a lot of things but the government is strangely very, very quiet.
"I suppose if you have personal relations with someone, until you are provoked, you are going to leave it up to other people.”
He also slammed ANZ for being coy about the 1MDB scandal with regards to AmBank, which the Australian bank is a big shareholder.
“People are asking why ANZ, a big shareholder in AmBank, has not reported anything and not responded to any inquiry.
"I think the government should at least tell the ANZ Bank to explain why it is that they have not (taken action) because there are elements of money laundering in this case.
"And money-laundering is of course a serious crime now.
“The Australian government should want to know what ANZ knows about this deposit in a bank in which ANZ has a big share,” said Mahathir. [mk]
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