PETALING JAYA: Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son has denied Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that he told Dr Mahathir's son it was his family's "turn to steal money".
"I never said such a thing, nor did I do such things," said Tan Sri Kamaluddin Abdullah, in response to Dr Mahathir's claim on a recent podcast on Instagram.
In a recent episode of The Game of Impossible podcast, hosted by Datuk Seri Idris Jala and his son Leon, the former prime minister claimed that Kamaluddin had an exchange with one of his sons.
At the time of the alleged incident, Dr Mahathir had already announced his intention to step down in 2003 and had named Abdullah, commonly known as "Pak Lah," as his successor.
"The son of Abdullah told my son, 'It was your turn before; now it is our turn.'
"Our turn for what? To steal money. I was shocked," said Dr Mahathir, while criticising his successor's administration.
Dr Mahathir accused his successors of perceiving the prime minister’s position as a means to amass personal wealth rather than prioritising national leadership and development.
He also recounted his initial optimism when Datuk Seri Najib Razak succeeded Abdullah in 2009, given Najib’s lineage as the son of a respected former prime minister.
“He was going to do things well. But you know what happened,” Dr Mahathir said, alluding to the 1MDB scandal.
Kamaluddin added that Dr Mahathir was upset and angry with "many things and many people".
"The best we can do is to pray for his well-being and hope that in his twilight years, he finds peace with himself," added Kamaluddin.
Dr Mahathir, the country's longest-serving prime minister, served two stints in office.
In 2003, he resigned from his first stint as prime minister, with Abdullah succeeding him.
