KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has stated that he is ready to answer all allegations related to his two statements, which have been deemed as a threat to the royal institution and democracy.

He called on the government to disprove his claims in court, saying that should it fail to do so, then sending the police to interrogate him is a form of threat.

"On June 2, I was interrogated by the police over two statements I had made. The first was on the history of Kedah and the lessons we could learn from it and the second was about the Malay Proclamation.

"It would seem that I was disrespectful of the rulers by talking about the history of the Malays and that the proclamation was meant to overthrow the present government.

"My answers to the many questions I was asked were simple. If I was charged in court (open court) I would answer," he said in a social media post.

He further said that since Malaysia is a democratic country, the only way to overthrow the government is through elections or a no-confidence vote.

"As to history, the law does not ban it. Only if we promote fake stories for whatever purpose that is wrong but telling the truth about the past is not a crime, as George Santayana said, 'those who forget the lessons of history are condemned to repeat their mistakes over and over again'.

"If what I say is wrong, prove it. If not, sending the police to question me is a form of threat," he said.

Dr Mahathir said he feels as though his freedom of speech is being restricted and that it is racist to disallow Malays to talk about their issues in Tanah Melayu with a Malay heading the government.

Dr Mahathir has purported his "Malay Proclamation" to be an initiative to unite Malays by addressing 12 key problems they face and bridging the community's political differences.

Last month, Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang and others such as Bersatu deputy president Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu and information chief Datuk Razali Idris signed the document to support Dr Mahathir's proclamation.

At a press conference yesterday (Wednesday), Dr Mahathir denied questioning or insulting the royal institution and called his statement "common knowledge".

https://www.nst.com.my/news/politics/2023/06/917916/dr-m-i-will-answer-all-allegations-if-charged-court