'Dr M too old for Petronas at 88 but not too old for Malaysia at 93?'

Umno supreme council member Ismail Sabri Yaakob today questioned Dr Mahathir Mohamad's insistence that being 93 was not too old to make a return as prime minister.

Ismail, who is also rural and regional minister, pointed out that Mahathir had, at age 88, resigned as Petronas chairperson on the grounds of his age.

"Are Malaysians expected to believe he was too old at 88 years to be Petronas adviser in 2013 but he is young and healthy enough at 93 years old to want to be prime minister again?" he said in a statement today.

Ismail also accused Mahathir of being filled with vengeance in his quest to unseat Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"It is no secret that, just like Pak Lah (former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), Najib had denied many requests from Mahathir that had angered him," he said.

He said among the things Najib did that irked Mahathir included the abolition of the Internal Security Act and emergency ordinance, implementing BR1M and giving more attention to minorities.

"There were other more personal requests from Mahathir that Najib did not agree on, such as for Malaysian Airlines to be privatised to a friend of his, that his good friend's sports betting operations be given the licence to operate, that Proton be given a RM2 billion free grant as well as for the crooked bridge.

"Mahathir was also sufficiently angered that Najib did not choose to lobby for his son Mukhriz to be vice-president in the Umno party elections, resulting in his very narrow loss to Hishammuddin Hussein - the second time in a row that Mukhriz had lost in a key Umno election," he said.

Ismail said Mahathir putting his vengeance above the country was a "dangerous game".

"I believe the rakyat have the wisdom to put the future of Malaysia above the personal vengeance of any one individual - no matter who he is," he added. -Mkini