Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is often accused of ruling the country with an iron fist, is now frightened about the current state of the nation.

In Malaysia today, the former prime minister said, laws and rules no longer protect the people.

“A lot of people must know the contents of both reports. But they have all seen what can happen even when someone lodges a report to the police. And they are scared.

“I am scared too...” he added in a blog posting.

The reports Mahathir referred to were the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation papers on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Bank Negara’s findings on 1MDB.

Citing the Official Secrets Act (OSA) as an example, Mahathir said the legislation is invoked to prevent reports from reaching the people.

“People are now exposed to abuse of the OSA and they may end up in jail. Even the ISA (Internal Security Act) did not frighten people as much.

“ Quo vadis (where are you going) Malaysia,” he added.

Mahathir also said the decision on the cases involving Najib indicated that the MACC is subservient to the attorney-general.

Under impression MACC an independent body

He said he was under the impression that MACC is an independent body.

“Now, it seems it is subordinate to the attorney-general and it takes orders from him.

“No wonder Malaysia is included among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world. The Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) is not free,” Mahathir added.

He blogged this in response to attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali’s decision not to pursue charges against Najib and to instruct MACC to close the cases.

Mahathir also said he was spot-on when he predicted that Apandi would reject the MACC investigation papers, similar to Bank Negara’s findings on 1MDB.

Since last April, Mahathir has been strongly criticising the prime minister, accusing him of numerous misdeeds.

Najib has denied abusing public funds or committing any wrongdoing, and blamed the corruption allegations against him on those wanting to topple him.