Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan wished former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad health and happiness in conjunction with the former premier's 90th birthday today.
"May Allah repay your good deeds for developing the country for 22 years," he told reporters in Putrajaya.
Asked if he had any wishes for Mahathir, Ahmad Maslan changed his tune.
"I hope he stops attacking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. That is my hope for him this Ramadan and Syawal," he said.
Mahathir and Najib are engaged in a bitter feud, with the nonagenarian hell bent on getting rid of the prime minister.
Najib in turn has accused his mentor of masterminding his downfall, including the claim that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB-linked funds were transferred into his personal bank accounts.
Ahmad Maslan was speaking to the media after accompanying Najib at the launch of the Nasyrul Quran Complex in Putrajaya.
The complex, is a RM60 million Quran printing centre, which upon completion, will make Malaysia the second biggest Quran printer after Saudi Arabia.
Previously, Ahmad Maslan and Mahathir were also at loggerheads over the goods and services tax (GST) issue.
When Mahathir lamented that civil servants themselves do not understand GST, the deputy minister said perhaps the former premier lacked knowledge about the tax.
In response, Mahathir said Ahmad Maslan is clueless about finance.
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