Malaysia becoming a police state, says Mahathir

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that Malaysia was reaching a point where it could become known as a police state, hours after being called in for questioning over a Facebook post. 

"We have reached a point where Malaysia can be known as a police state, a police government," he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. 

"Because the government can make any decision it likes, the attorney-general can decide on anything, whether it follows the rules or not." 

He also said he was made to understand that police officers had been following opposition candidates on the campaign trail during the recent state polls.

"This amounts to a threat, an attempt to stop them from speaking up, because whatever they say would be interpreted as violating the prohibition on touching on race, religion and rulers or the 3R."

He also said that while the government was being led by a person who had championed reforms, the opposite was true on how the authorities tolerated dissent, accusing Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of behaving more and more "like a dictator". 

Mahathir was called in by the police earlier today as part of investigations into a Facebook post made on July 27. 

At the press conference, he also hit out at Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil for "threatening" those who speak against the government. 

"This shows that it's not just the prime minister – ministers, too, want to send police over every little thing. 

"If they say anything out of line, police will be sent to their house to monitor what's going on," he said. 

He also agreed with the call by Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin for Anwar to step down as prime minister. 

"By right, he should not have become the prime minister. He was not the people's choice, he only made an agreement with his enemy so that he could become the prime minister. 

"He was not the prime minister the people wanted. This is why he is acting like a dictator."