"Why do people keep telling me that I'm not alone?"

This was the question posed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad when asked to respond to Culture and Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz who dismissed him as an "ordinary man" whose views are "unimportant".

"I am an ordinary citizen now but loads of people seem to be quite supportive of my ideas.

"When I said I was alone, many people came out to say 'no, no, you are not alone,' he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Mahathir added that these supporters were also not paid, in an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's carefully organised solidarity rallies.

The former premier also suggested that Nazri read the comments on his blog Chedet.cc to gauge support.

"Look at my blog for example. In one hour, there were one million people (visiting the blog).

"Am I alone? I don't know. He (Nazri) never reads. I think it will be good for him to sometimes read the comments on my blog, on Whatsapp and Facebook," he said.

In an immediate response, Nazri said he does read Mahathir's blog and even saw a post in which the latter used the word "ordinary" to describe himself.

"I go to Mahathir's blog. I sometimes read his blog and he wrote there that 'I am an ordinary man'," he added.

The minister urged Mahathir to check what he has posted in the past.

"(The word 'ordinary' was) his own statement. I agreed with him that he is an ordinary citizen on his blog.

"I don't know whether it is sarcasm or (whether) he is telling the truth, so please tell me whether you are an ordinary citizen or not.

"I read his blog and I never said he was alone," Nazri added.

'Crown prince also has free speech'

On Nazri's call for Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim ( photo ) to keep out of politics or face being "whacked" by the government, Mahathir said even royalty had free speech.

"As far as the government has free speech, the crown prince also has free speech.

"Do we have a law saying the crown prince does not have free speech?" he said.

Tunku Ismail had publicly criticised Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's no-show at a highly-anticipated 1MDB dialogue, where Mahathir was also present.

The prince had said that someone who had something to hide would not attend a dialogue titled "Nothing to Hide".

Mahathir also mocked Najib's gathering where 'I Love PM' banners were often spotted.

"You don't go to your girlfriend and ask her to carry a card that says 'I love you'.

"If people love you, they love you. You don't need to ask them to raise a card," he said.