Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a rare moment of candour admitted that if the ruling BN party loses the next general elections, many people may be charged in court.

He was commenting on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal that he feared would drag BN down at the next polls if Prime Minister Najib Razak refuses to step down.

"If he (Najib) is gone, BN will win. That's why it has to be now, because we still have two years to work, to recover.

"But what I am most afraid of is, if the opposition wins, and we lose, the opposition has no sympathy.

"They will dig (for answers), and if they dig, people will be charged in court and may be found guilty.

"So if BN loses ... a lot of people will have to pay a big price," said Mahathir in a private interview uploaded on Youtube yesterday.

The interview was uploaded in five parts over a few days starting April 10 by a blogger called Din Turtle, who claimed they were recorded at a blogger’s function earlier that day.

In the clips, Mahathir severely criticised the 1MDB scandal as well as issues related to BR1M, the crooked bridge and the gruesome murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Mahathir also uncharacteristically favoured opposition MPs in helping to get to the bottom of the 1MDB scandal.

Expressed a lack of confidence that the auditor-general would do a thorough probe, he said the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would likely get answers, if they were allowed to.

"The PAC, I think, would ask questions, because opposition is there. But when (can they be deployed)?" he asked.