Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad challenges anti-corruption authorities to prove alleged abuse of power

Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday challenged investigators to prove his alleged abuse of power while in government, as a widening crackdown by anti-corruption authorities pulls in his family members and allies in the business elite.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has so far charged three people, including two business tycoons, for graft and summoned Mahathir’s two eldest sons for questioning over their assets.

It has yet to lay any formal allegations against Mahathir, who Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has claimed had amassed billions of ringgit while in power.

Critics have accused Anwar of using the MACC to embark on a witch hunt against his mentor turned arch-rival Mahathir, who is 98.

Citing an MACC notice sent to his son, Mahathir questioned why the agency had concluded that he had committed an offence under section 23 of the MACC Act – which deals with abuse of power while holding government office – if he was not formally being investigated.

“As far as I know I have never been investigated. But the MACC notice said I have committed an offence,” the two-time prime minister said in a statement.

“The inspector-general of police said I was not treated like a criminal. But the notice [sent] to my son, Mirzan said that the MACC found that ‘an offence … had been made by Mahathir bin Mohamad’.”

Mahathir, who in late March was released from hospital after nearly two months of treatment for an infection, has repeatedly questioned the basis of the ongoing graft sweep, which he describes as politically motivated.

In 1998, Mahathir sacked Anwar as his deputy and later had him jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy. Anwar and his supporters have denied any wrongdoing, and a bitter two-decade