KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — Kamaluddin Abdullah, the son of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, has refuted allegations that he told Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son it was their family’s “turn” to exploit political power for personal gain.
In an Instagram post last night, Kamaluddin “categorically” denied the claim, describing Dr Mahathir as “obviously very upset and very angry with many things and many people.”
“The best we can do is pray for his well-being and hope that in his twilight years, he finds peace with himself,” Kamaluddin wrote.
His response followed remarks made by Dr Mahathir on Friday, where he claimed to have learned of the alleged comment from his own son.
“They (his successors) believed that during my time as prime minister, I was abusing power and was corrupt. The son of Abdullah told my son, ‘It was your turn before, now it is our turn’. Our turn for what? To steal money. I was shocked,” Dr Mahathir reportedly said during a podcast hosted by former minister Idris Jala and his son, Leon Jala, on YouTube.
Dr Mahathir accused his successors of perceiving the prime minister’s position as a means to amass personal wealth rather than prioritising national leadership and development.
He also recounted his initial optimism when Datuk Seri Najib Razak succeeded Abdullah in 2009, given Najib’s lineage as the son of a respected former prime minister.
“He was going to do things well. But you know what happened,” Dr Mahathir said, alluding to the 1MDB scandal.
