Former Malaysia leader Mahathir urges 'people power' to topple Najib
PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 4:47am
UPDATED : Monday, 31 August, 2015, 4:47am
Reuters in Kuala Lumpur
Demonstrators in Kuala Lumpur sing their protest song yesterday. Tens of thousands vowed to hold their ground to step up pressure on the prime minister to resign.Photo: EPA
Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, joining anti-government protesters for a second day yesterday, called for a "people's power" movement to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak, as the government threatened action against organisers.
"The only way for the people to get back to the old system is for them to remove this prime minister," said Mahathir, a deeply respected 90-year-old who was once Najib's patron and is now his fiercest critic.
"And to remove him, the people must show people's power. The people as a whole do not want this kind of corrupt leader," he told media before heading to the rally, whose numbers police estimated at 25,000 yesterday.
The protest has brought into the streets a political crisis triggered by reports of a mysterious transfer worth US$700 million into an account under Najib's name.
Najib, who denies wrongdoing, has weathered the storm and analysts say the protest is unlikely to inspire broad public support for him to quit because it lacks a strong leader.
These protests also lack the support of a party identified with the Malay majority: most protesters were from the minority ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
However, Mahathir - the country's longest-serving leader - was a leader of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which represents Malays.
Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said that by turning up unexpectedly at the anti-government rally on Saturday, Mahathir had "crossed over the line".
Another Umno leader said a million government supporters would stage a "red shirts" rally on October 10 that would trump the protests of the past two days. "This shows the solidarity of Malaysians, that Najib still has the majority support," Jamal Yunos said.
Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who is also home minister in charge of domestic security, warned organisers faced possible charges under assembly, sedition and other laws.
"What is important is that I am empowering the police to take action," he was quoted by Malaysian media as saying.
"We also follow every word they say, we know the actions taken by them," state media quoted him as saying.
Yesterday, security remained tight and anti-riot trucks stood ready, but there were no reports of violence.
Bernama news agency said 12 people in the city of Malacca were arrested for wearing the signature yellow T-shirts of the protests which the government had banned before the rally.
Malaysia has been gripped since July by reports that investigators probing allegations of corruption at 1Malaysia Development Berhad had discovered the transfer into Najib's account.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
