'I do not want to stoop to his level': Najib responds to Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has stressed that he will not stoop to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's level, following the latter's criticism of Najib's Bugis ancestry.
Najib in his speech, despite not mentioning Mahathir's name, insinuated that the former prime minister had put the blame on all Bugis people while making his personal attack against Najib.
"He blamed the Bugis people. Bugis has the history of fighters, to the point that the Dutch were scared of the Bugis. Don't ask me to go back.
"I did not ask him to go back. Why? Because I do not want to stoop to his level," Najib said to the cheers and shouts of thousands of supporters at the Umno Social Media Convention held at Putra World Trade Centre.
Mahathir, who is the Pakatan Harapan chairman, had stated at a recent opposition gathering that Najib might have descended from Bugis pirates and should go back to the Bugis community in Indonesia.
On Thursday, the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah expressed his disappointment with Mahathir's remarks on the Bugis community.
The Selangor Council of the Royal Court chaired by Sultan Sharafuddin also suggested that Mahathir be investigated under the Sedition Act 1948.
According to Najib, as a prime minister it was his obligation to inculcate a politics with morals, even when criticising his opponents.
"We do not hit them in a brutal and rude way. We can't. We cannot teach the rakyat this type of politics. As a leader, we must show a good example," he said.
He said criticisms could be made against his policies, but not by launching personal attacks.
"It is okay to have disagreement. You can give your point and facts. But do not smear the personality of others. This is not the Malaysia way of politics," he added.