Police escorts for Dr Mahathir: Ahmad Zahid leaves the matter to IGP

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar will issue a statement on the move to strip Dr Mahathir Mohamad of police escorts.

He said this is because the issue is not a policy matter but rather an operational one.

"I leave it to the IGP to issue a statement on this matter," he told Astro AWANI.

"Because this is an operational matter, I leave it to the police. I don't interfere in operational matter. I am only involved in policy matters," he added.

On May 1, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the move to cease providing escorts for the former prime minister is appropriate and should have been done long ago.

READ: Move to strip Dr Mahathir of police escorts appropriate - Nazri

"I think it is out of place to provide him with escorts when he is moving around only to condemn the government that gave him the privilege.

"The decision ought to have been made long ago. But we hope he realises that what he has been doing was not in the best interest of the country," he said.

Nazri said should Dr Mahathir continue doing so and in the course of it, offend certain quarters thus putting himself at risk, then the government would not want to be responsible for it.