The proposal for a new investigation into the BMF and foreign exchance scandals during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's tenure as head of government is meant to clear the former prime minister, a PAS Youth leader says.

Federal Territories PAS Youth deputy chief Nurul Islam Mohamed Yusoff said it would also strengthen people's confidence in Mahathir.

"If the probe proves that Mahathir is clean and free, won't the people be more confident and trusting of him?

"In the name of justice, all youths and Malaysians should be by my side and support this effort to clear Mahathir's name," Nurul Islam (photo) said in a statement today.

Nurul Islam first made the proposal for a new investigation into the Mahathir-era scandals last Saturday.

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman then claimed that the PAS Youth leader was trying to sabotage talks between their two parties.

However, Nurul Islam dismissed this and said the PAS-Bersatu talks should not be hampered by his proposal for a probe, and would instead be strengthened.

Bersatu is trying to convince PAS to compete in straight fights against BN in the next general election.

The Mahathir-era scandals re-entered the spotlight after the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declassified a report on BMF.

The report suggested that Mahathir's government was aware of BMF's dubious dealings in the 1980s.

The BMF scandal had cost US$1 billion in losses due to its lending practices.

Last Friday, former Bank Negara assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid claimed that the central bank had lost US$10 billion in the foreign exchange market during Mahathir's era.

Murad said despite the heavy losses, there was no investigation into the matter.

Mahathir rubbished the CIA's BMF report, accusing the US agency of conspiring against him.

He also wrote a blog post to point out differences between the BMF and 1MDB scandals, such as that the CIA report on the BMF scandal did not implicate the prime minister.

Nurul Islam in his statement today highlighted that although there was no direct link to Mahathir, his associates in the government and in Umno then were implicated.

"Scandals that happened when Mahathir was prime minister and Umno president are still scandals that cost public losses," he said.