Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad today revealed that billionaire party globetrotter Jho Low had pestered Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to push ahead with his 1MDB agenda even though the Terengganu palace was opposed to it.

Speaking at a dialogue in Kuala Lumpur which was supposed to feature the prime minister as the main speaker, Mahathir said this happened after proposals to use Terengganu's oil fields as collateral to raise funds for 1MDB's predecessor, the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

"The Terengganu palace did not agree with this. It asked for these plans to raise the funds to be postponed.

"However, (Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak insisted on pressing on with it.

"At that time, Jho Low was already menghasut (inciting) here and there for the investment body (1MDB) to be created," said Mahathir.

As such, Mahathir said this led to the federal government eventually taking over TIA and turning it into 1MDB which in turn saw the ensuing debacle.

Crowd cheers for Dr M

Mahathir, who was one of over 2,000 participants at the dialogue, was invited on stage after Najib failed to turn up.

He was flanked by former Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Said and sacked Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan when he made his entrance as the angry crowd chanted " Hidup Tun ".

In his speech, Mahathir also criticised Najib's leadership.

"I feel responsible to explain to the rakyat for what has happened and that's why I withdrew support for Najib" he said said as the crowd clapped.

Mahathir critcised Najib for bowing to Singapore, claiming that Najib would often seek the republic's nod for projects such as the high speed train even though it is largely on Malaysian soil.

However, Mahathir was stopped by police from speaking, less than 10 minutes into the speech, on grounds that the situation was becoming chaotic.

Mahathir relented, smugly saying that he was a "law-abiding citizen".