Mahathir threatens to sue Zahid over 'Kutty' claim

SHAH ALAM - Pejuang Chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has threatened to sue Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the former's lineage.

In a statement, Mahathir said legal action will be taken if Zahid fails to show evidence over his claims.

Mahathir also called Zahid a "compulsive" and a "hardcore" liar.

"During 14th general elections campaign, he issued a statement claiming my original identity card was Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty.

"He claimed that my blue IC (identity card) with that name was sent to him by National Registration Department director-general," he further said in his statement.

Kutty is said to be a Malayalee surname.

He further said he has been waiting for Zahid to show evidence during GE14 but he did not do so.

"He wanted to discredit me in such a way to show that I lied about the status of my race," he said, adding that Zahid wanted to dispute his eligibility to lead Umno and any other Malay parties.

Mahathir has acknowledged his Indian ancestry of which he included it in his book. However, he insisted that he is a Malay and that both his birth certificate and identity card were named Mahathir bin Mohamad.

Over a month ago, Zahid filed a defamation suit against Mahathir over the latter’s remarks during a February press conference accusing Zahid of trying to free himself from criminal charges.

Earlier last month, Zahid had also filed a similar defamation suit against another former prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, for claiming he had sought help to intervene in his graft cases.