Ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has conceded that he could have made the wrong decision by choosing Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as his successor.

In a no-holds-barred remark today, he also revealed that Abdullah was not his top choice to take over the leadership when he stepped down in 2003 after helming the country for 22 years.

"In fact, he was not the first choice, he was second as he didn't have the highest vote. (Deputy Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) had," Mahathir told a press conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation office in Putrajaya today.

"I chose him and I expect a degree of gratefulness," Mahathir added.

Mahathir was referring to the 1996 Umno polls where Najib bagged the highest number of votes in the contest for the ruling party's three vice-president posts, followed by Muhammad Muhd Taib and Abdullah, who made a surprising comeback in snatching the third spot.

When Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998, Mahathir had to fill the vacancy with one of the three vice-presidents.

However, when asked whether the former party strongman regretted picking Abdullah - popularly known as Pak Lah - as his successor, he said: "I have made many blunders in my career. I have helped many people up only for them to stab me in the back... I'm in the habit of choosing the wrong people."

When pressed whether Abdullah had stabbed him in the back, he answered: "Minor bruises."

"One cannot tell exactly what a person would do after he is out of your control. So I thought I made a good choice," said the ex-premier.

Mahathir, who keeps a high public profile since he retired three years ago, has recently lambasted a series of government decisions, including the reversal of his decision to build a half-bridge to Singapore.

'I can no longer keep quiet'

He told reporters that he had tolerated such decisions as much as possible, but that he could not longer keep quiet.

Mahathir especially took offence with claims that he had drained the government's finances with mega-projects he had implemented while in power.

These include the iconic 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, federal administrative capital Putrajaya and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

However, Mahathir denied that he was campaigning to oust Abdullah as leader of ruling party Umno.

"I can't have him removed, it is for his own party to remove him, for Umno to remove him. I'm not helping or go around campaigning and tell people, 'please remove this man'."

Abdullah was reported to have held a brief private meeting with Mahathir when the duo were speaking at the same conference in Japan last week.

The prime minister has dismissed speculations over the meeting and brushed aside suggestions that the relationship between the two had turned sour.

Petronas flushed with money

At the press conference today, Mahathir, who is advisor of Petronas, also revealed that the national oil company would soon be announcing its financial report.

"They will soon publishing, I believe. That's what I'm told."

He said that Petronas made a profit of about RM50 billion last year and RM80 billion this year.

"This year, Petronas made RM83 billion and spent RM13 billion to subsidise petrol prices of the public and it still has about RM70 billion, of which it will pay taxes of RM30 billion and still have RM40 billion, and if the government wants that, Petronas must give it as it belongs to government.

"So to say the previous government has spent all the money [...] is not supported by facts."

Q&A: They stab me in the back, says Mahathir