Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not alone in telling the truth, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

 

Muhyiddin said standing up and telling the truth was the former premier's trademark, especially when he spoke against Western superpowers waging war.

 

"Telling the truth and standing up [...] this is your trademark since you were a young doctor and Umno member.

 

"You are not alone in telling the truth," Muhyiddin said at the start of his speech at an anti-war forum in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Mahathir was present at the event and sitting beside the DPM.

 

While speaking in the context of war, Muhyiddin's remark could be seen as a veiled reference to Mahathir's recent lament that he was alone in wanting to seek answers from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

 

Mahathir, who wants Najib to quit office, has also said that Muhyiddin is the best choice to replace the current premier.

Later on the sidelines of the forum, Mahathir maintained that the deputy premier was speaking in the context of war.

 

"It is about this war, I'm talking about the war, and I think he is supporting me for the war," Mahathir said.

 

‘BN leaders scared’

 

However he also said many BN leaders are afraid to publicly support him and his call for Najib to step down, for fear of reprisals.

 

"Lots of people meet me, but they don't like to be seen meeting me or supporting me. I understand their worries.

 

"People have been arrested and then released and things like that, people are now afraid the police might come take them in.

 

"So while they agree with me, they are not going to show it," he said.

 

However he said the public is openly with him.

 

"Every day when I meet people, they say 'you are not alone'. It cannot be me alone, that I'm the only one who wants him (Najib) to step down.

 

"I think a lot of people want him to step down for the good of Umno, for the good of the country," he said.

 

Among those who have voiced support for Mahathir is Malaysian pop diva Siti Nurhaliza.

 

Besides asking Najib to quit, Mahathir also wants the premier to answer concerns regarding 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) debts, and who had given the orders to kill Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.