Anifah lashes out at Tun M in open letter to New York Times

Malaysian Foreign Minister lashed out at former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for attacking the country's administration and political party in an open letter to the editor of American daily, The New York Times.

Datuk Seri Anifah Aman stated that he regretted Dr Mahathir's action to undermine his own country through the international media, as part of a personal political vendetta.

"It is irresponsible of any citizen, let alone a former prime minister, to spread lies and distort facts about state owned companies," he said in the open letter made available to Bernama on Thursday.

Anifah criticised Dr Mahathir's attack over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), UMNO and accusations on current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

These are some excepts of Anifah's letter on 1MDB.

"Saying for example that RM42 billion is missing from 1MDB to create public anxiety, when in fact these are audited debts backed by RM51 billion assets. These reckless claims have affected market sentiments towards Malaysia. "Furthermore, it is telling that he continues to mount his attacks rather than wait for the findings of the enquiry currently being undertaken by Malaysia’s central bank, Auditor General and parliament’s bipartisan Public Accounts Committee.

"This shows that Dr Mahathir is not interested in answers from the appropriate lawful authorities. Rather, he is just using 1MDB as an excuse to topple the serving prime minister."

Pertaining to Dr Mahathir's views over UMNO that 'has become a repository of patronage-seeking politicians', Anifah said: "it is Dr Mahathir who had led the party for 22 years. It was he who, during his time, worked to cultivate ‘yes men’ culture to entrench his position."

About Dr Mahathir's accusation of Najib, Anifah said it was simply outrageous and entirely false.

Anifah said it was a measure of the reforms put in place under Prime Minister Najib’s administration that Dr Mahathir had the freedom to be so vocally critical of the party and government he once led.

"Most Malaysians would rather see Dr Mahathir retire gracefully than continue to damage the standing of his own country for personal political gain," he said.