KUALA LUMPUR: The "verbal sparring" between two former prime ministers continues as Datuk Seri Najib Razak responds to the second open letter issued by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Johor voters ahead of the March 12 state polls.

In a Facebook post today, Najib claimed that Dr Mahathir had mounted pressure on him to support projects associated with the cronies of the now Langkawi member of Parliament.

"Yes, I am still indebted to Tun (Dr Mahathir) for his support towards me to become the PM (prime minister).

"Maybe he had pressured Pak Lah (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) to support me. The problem is, after I became the prime minister, he pressured me to support the projects of his cronies too. 

"When I refused to bow down (to Dr Mahathir's pressure), Tun (Dr Mahathir) 'meroyan' (went on a rant), started a move and conspired with (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin (Yassin) to topple me in 2014 before the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) erupted into an issue," said the Pekan MP in his social media post.

He claimed that Dr Mahathir's son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, who is also the Jerlun MP, admitted that his father had conspired to topple Najib who was then the prime minister.

In the same post, Najib included a link to a news report titled "13 Julai 2017: Mukhriz Mengaku Mahathir, Muhyiddin Rancang Jatuhkan Najib" (July 13, 2017: Mukhriz admits Mahathir, Muhyiddin planned to topple Najib) and excerpts of Mukhriz's court testimony as published in the report as follows:

"Saya bersetuju bahawa ayahanda saya telah berusaha untuk menjatuhkan Najib dan rancangan itu bukan bermula pada tahun 2015 tetapi lebih awal lagi iaitu tahun 2014," kata Mukhriz dalam keterangan di Mahkamah Tinggi.

("I agree that my father tried to topple Najib and this plan started not in 2015 but much earlier in 2014" said Mukhriz in his testimony in the High Court.)

Mukhriz was quoted as saying that during cross-examination in a suit brought by him against Datuk Seri Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad, who was Najib's press secretary.

On May 3, 2016, Mukhriz, who was then the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) deputy president, filed a suit claiming that Tengku Sharifuddin had issued two statements defamatory in nature against him in April of that year.

Najib in the same social media post also said he did not understand why Dr Mahathir continued to call him out in his second open letter to Johor voters.

"I do not understand him. After the first (open) letter in which he mentioned my name, he had said that he was no longer willing to call me out.

"However, the entire content of his second (open) letter is all about me. The word 'Najib' was mentioned 10 times in the letter," said Najib.

In his second open letter to Johor voters ahead of the state election, Dr Mahathir cautioned that the country will continue to be ruled by kleptocrats and robbed by the "court cluster" if Najib returned to power.