KUALA LUMPUR: The son of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has denied Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that he told the latter's son it was his family's "turn" to "steal money."
In an Instagram post, Tan Sri Kamaluddin Abdullah said he "categorically denied" Dr Mahathir's allegation.
"I never said such a thing, nor did I do such things," he said in response to the former prime minister's statement on a recent podcast.
In a recent episode of The Game of Impossible podcast, hosted by Datuk Seri Idris Jala and his son Leon, Mahathir 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 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.
In his post today, Kamaluddin said Dr Mahathir was "obviously" very 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."
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.
The following year, Abdullah led Barisan Nasional to a sweeping victory in the 2004 general election.
However, Dr Mahathir later had a falling out with Abdullah's administration over several issues, including the cancellation of the proposed "crooked bridge" project connecting Johor to Singapore via the Causeway.