KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Former two-time prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today denied ordering the Ops Lalang in 1987, saying the decision was made by the police.

In a Twitter post this morning, Dr Mahathir said “a prime minister has to listen to the police” as they are responsible for the security of the nation.

“Their opinions and advice cannot be simply brushed aside,” he added.

Dr Mahathir also shared snippets of a video, dated as from 2011, of former inspector-general of police Tun Hanif Omar.

In the video, Hanif was seen saying that it was fully his decision to conduct the operation as he wanted to avoid a repeat of the May 13, 1969 riots, and that he was not influenced by Dr Mahathir.

This comes after a “Malay Proclamation” rally that was spearheaded by Dr Mahathir was cancelled last week after several venues withdrew their permission for the event.

Dr Mahathir said that although parties in Pakatan Harapan (PH) had always blamed him for Ops Lalang, they had decided to work with him at one point.

“When it served their objectives they very gladly accepted me as a colleague and also as the candidate to be their prime minister,” he said, referring to the time when PH won the 14th general election with him then appointed their government leader.

Dr Mahathir also said that when he was the fourth prime minister, Anwar had weekly demonstrations.

“I did not stop him.

“But now that he is the prime minister he does not allow Malays to even discuss the problems that they face,” he said.

He added that the “Malay Proclamation” rally organiser did not blame other races for the “misfortune” of Malays, but instead blamed corrupt Malay leaders only.

“If we cannot find a solution for the problems faced by the Malays, then we must assume that it is the wish of this government to promote poverty among the Malays.

“This bias against the Malays is a manifestation of the racism of the government. It is sedition because it is against the constitution of our country.

“It is therefore the government leader who should be arrested for sedition,” he said, in reference to Anwar.