'Tun Mahathir should be held responsible for Malaysia's damaged reputation'

In a media statement today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's press secretary, Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad said the former premier's 'lies' were motivated by personal interests.

Below is his full statement:

15 April 2016

"We note yesterday’s statement by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, who said that their donation to the Prime Minister was genuine, that nothing was expected in return, that the Attorney General has thoroughly investigated the matter and found no wrongdoing, and that Saudi Arabia considers the matter closed.‎

"This confirms what the Prime Minister maintained all along, and what multiple lawful authorities concluded after exhaustive investigations: the funds were a donation from Saudi Arabia.

"This also proves that the wild allegations pushed for one year by Tun Mahathir Mohamad and his Anti-Najib Campaign are completely false.

"Tun Mahathir's lies were motivated by personal interest, not care for Malaysia or the people. It was an attempt to use deception to unseat a democratically-elected government, just to save the political career of Tun Mahathir's son, Dato' Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.

"Western media who allowed themselves to be used to propagate false politically-motivated allegations should apologise to the Malaysian people.

"And Tun Mahathir should held responsible for the damage he has inflicted on Malaysia's reputation."