Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim is not discounting the possibility of Dr Mahathir Mohamad being arrested after the Sarawak state election next month.

Zaid said this in a blog posting that recounted the question-and-answer session with some 300 volunteers from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) in Kelantan yesterday.

Though being the current administration’s fiercest critic and accused of peddling lies and slander to topple Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the former prime minister remains free to continue with his campaign.

Recently, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar disclosed that Mahathir is the subject of four police investigations .

Observers claim that Putrajaya could be afraid of the political backlash, especially among the Malays, if the 90-year-old Mahathir is detained.

Meanwhile, in his answer to a question on whether Mahathir could be trusted, Zaid ( photo ) replied: “As long as he remains with us, yes we can, because his fight with Najib is real and ugly, unlike his attack against Pak Lah (former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi).”

“I would not rule out Najib arresting Dr Mahathir after the Sarawak election.

“There is no way he would go back to Umno under Najib. But even if he rejoins Umno after Najib, it would be no loss to us because Umno would be destroyed by then,” Zaid added.

The other questions posed were:

Why is it that (PKR president) Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and (PKR vice-president) Nurul Izzah Anwar are not part of the Save Malaysia campaign?

They do not accept Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the person to lead the movement. They do not think he is the right person to push for reforms.

Why did Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah come out in support of Najib?

He said he is an Umno member who lives and breathes Umno, and so he must support the party’s president.

What happens if Najib does not step down?

We can only do what the law allows us to do, and that is signing petitions and making demands through the voice of the rakyat. If that does not work, then we have to fight him in the next general election.

Is Najib that bad?

He has proven to be very bad for the country.

Zaid also said that he has asked Amanah volunteers to help secure 30,000 additional signatures for the Citizens’ Declaration.

During his speech, the former minister said he urged volunteers to go to the ground in towns and villages to get as many Kelantanese as possible to sign the declaration.

“I told them the significance of signing the declaration. It signals the rakyat’s rejection of leaders who have failed to discharge their duties and responsibilities properly.

“It’s a rejection of Najib as prime minister and finance minister, as his tenure has cost the government losses of more than RM40 billion - losses that ultimately have to be borne by us.

“It’s a rejection of his cabinet for their negligence, and of senior civil servants in the Finance Ministry and the Treasury for failing to supervise 1MDB’s costly activities over six long years. It’s also a rejection of Umno as a political party for failing to defend the interests of Malays and the country,” Zaid added.