CALL NOT TO APPOINT NAJIB PM ILLOGICAL

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday it is illogical to call on the King not to appoint Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as the prime minister.

Commenting on the call by Zaid Ibrahim, urging the King not to appoint Najib
as the prime minister, Dr Mahathir said, "He can say what he likes but he is
just one person."

"Whether the King will listen to the opinion of one person
will be up to the King," he said.

He was speaking at a news conference to announce the "Forum and Exhibition
on Gaza Genocide: Palestine Solution" here Thursday.

Zaid, the former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, claimed that
Najib's appointment would divide the people.

Dr Mahathir said: "The person who made this suggestion is not someone who is
regarded highly or someone who is rational. If I were the King, I wouldn't even
want to read about this. It's too stupid. Who does he want to be?"

Asked whether he would fully support Najib's appointment as the prime
minister, Dr Mahathir said, "I will give a full backing to Najib on
condition that he must not appoint any of the corrupt leaders to his cabinet."

He also commented on perception that Najib was corrupt.

"I'm not talking about what people believe. A lot of people believe about
something but there is no legal stand taken on whether Najib is corrupt or not."

Asked on his choice for the United Malays National Organization (UMNO)
deputy president's post, Dr Mahathir said, it would be Muhyiddin Yassin, the
International Trade and Industry Minister.

UMNO is a right-wing party and Malaysia's largest political party; a
founding member of the Barisan Nasional coalition, which has been Malaysia's
ruling political party since independence.

"I think what is left is somebody who is... well, could not read English and
therefore he did something wrong in Australia. So my choice is Muhyiddin," he
said.

The contest for the deputy presidency is now between Muhyiddin and Muhammad
Muhd Taib.

A third candidate, Mohd Ali Rustam was barred from contesting
after the party's disciplinary board found him guilty of breaching party ethics.

Dr Mahathir also commented on the statement by Mohd Ali that he (Dr
Mahathir) had a hand in the recent decision taken by the disciplinary board.

Dr Mahathir said: "I wish I had but I'm not a member of Umno. If I had been
involved, I would have thrown him out from the very beginning but I'm not
involved. I have to very reluctantly wait for the decision by the board and I'm
not completely happy with it."

He said that Mohd Ali should be treated the same way former Umno
vice-president Mohamed Isa Abdul Samad was treated in 2005.

"Isa was thrown out because he was involved in money politics but he also
lost his position as a minister. But here, we have a very strange decision.

"He was found to be corrupt but he can remain as the Chief Minister (of
Melaka). Now we have a person who is confirmed corrupt but the party accepted
him as the chief minister.
"
If you pass judgment, you must be consistent. It must apply to everybody in
the same way and in the same amount.

"You cannot say, well, he killed that person so he should be hanged. And
then he killed another person but this other person is not important, so let him
go," he said.

The former Umno president also spoke on the possibility of a "motion of
confidence" be tabled in Parliament to have Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
remained as the prime minister.

"It's a possibility; it's not against the law. The law provides that to be
the prime minister, you must have the support of the majority in Parliament but
it does not say from which party.

"According to the constitution, the person who shall be made the prime
minister is a person who has the majority support in Parliament. If you appoint
somebody who has no majority support, he will be out," he said.

Dr Mahathir said that there was nothing in the Federal Constitution which
stated that the Umno president must be the prime minister.

"There is no provision. That is only our arrangement," he said, adding that
legally, the current prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could
continue serving his term until the next general election if he wanted to.

"But of course he may face a vote of no confidence in Parliament... he has
a good chance of winning with the support of opposition members but he will
become the prime minister of the opposition," he said.

Dr Mahathir said opposition members also had votes in Parliament and if
they, together with some members of the Barisan Nasional (National Front), were
to vote for Abdullah, "then he will be the PM (prime minister)."

-- BERNAMA