Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that leaders who become tyrants can be overthrown by mass demonstrations if the vote does not work.

He said that leaders who cannot be criticised are “ready to do wrong things”, and while democracy allows leaders to be voted out peacefully, this democractic process can also be abused.

“Merely by voting you can overthrow a leader but when democracy is abused and they don't really practice democracy, we have no way of overthrowing the leader through elections.

“Then of course, eventually if the leader is really oppressive, it is necessary to overthrow him by other means. And other means, of course, includes huge demonstrations and even fighting unfortunately," Mahathir said.