(Kyodo) - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, smarting from a ruling party election loss over the weekend, on Monday attacked his hand-picked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's 'Mr. Clean' image, accusing him of using bribery to ensure his defeat.
Mahathir, who is already involved in an ugly, public row with Abdullah, sought to take his grievances to the heart of the United Malays National Organization -- the party's annual assembly this November -- where he knew he could potentially inflict the heaviest blow to Abdullah's political career.
To do that, he had put his name up for election as a delegate from a division in his home state of Kedah which he had led for 30 years prior to his retirement in 2003.
He was, however, dealt a humiliating defeat in Saturday's poll, coming ninth out of the 15 who vied for the seven seats available.
Mahathir blamed his defeat on vote-buying and intimidation by the UMNO leadership.
"I say three cheers to the government. You should be proud of yourself. You have used the biggest sledgehammer to kill one single, wee mosquito," he told a small group of supporters who turned up at his office in Putrajaya, the country's administrative capital.
"For me, it's a moral victory. Because for this very small election, the state and federal government mobilized forces that made it appear like it was a presidential election," he said.
He claimed payments of around 200 ringgit (about $55) in cash were given to each of the division members together with a note instructing them who they should vote for.
Mahathir showed a note he claimed he received from one of his supporters to the press.
"I am quite sure that it was money that decided that day. The Malay pride was bought for a mere 200 ringgit. The leader himself used money politics just to defeat me. I am only an individual. Why so afraid of me if you do not do anything wrong," he said.
The vote-buying accusations could damage Abdullah, who made fighting corruption one of his main goals when he took over from Mahathir in 2003. He had already tried to take his battle against graft into UMNO by tightening up campaigning rules during the triennial party elections.
Despite not being able to take his criticism to UMNO's annual assembly, Mahathir, 81, vowed to soldier on until "either he (Abdullah) changes or he steps down."
"You can try to shut me up but I have got a big mouth and I am going to use this big mouth to expose all the misdeeds of the government...The only way they can stop me is to throw me into jail," he said.
In a press conference, Mahathir dismissed a minister's suggestion that he should have been "smarter" by emulating former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who still serves in an advisory capacity.
"I don't like to be Lee Kuan Yew. I have no intention of coming back to be a prime minister or a senior minister but I have a duty to correct things that go wrong," he said.
Mahathir has a long list of what he thinks Abdullah had done wrong -- from the government's automobile policy, which he said hurts national automaker Proton Bhd by causing an influx of imports, to foreign policies which Mahathir said are too acquiescent toward the United States and Singapore, the two countries that used to be Mahathir's favorite punching bags.
He also called Abdullah a "liar" for not being open about his son's business dealings and his son-in-law's alleged interference in government policies.
Meanwhile, Abdullah was reported by the local media Monday as saying that Mahathir will be invited to UMNO's annual assembly as a guest, which does not, however, give him the privilege to speak on stage like a delegate.
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