Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is known for his acerbic sarcasm, has vowed to praise Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when he is overseas.

"I will set the example by praising Najib and the RM2.6 billion in his account sky-high when abroad.

"Any speech I deliver abroad and my answers in any interview by the foreign media will highlight his democratic arrest and detention of anyone...

"I will never fail to talk about Najib's great contribution to Islam for which the Arabs gave him US$681 million.

"Also about the freedom of speech of Umno delegates to not talk about 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in the great leader's account," said the former premier in his blog.

Mahathir was commenting on Putrajaya's stand that passports are a privilege and those critical of the government can be barred from travelling abroad.

This was in response to Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah being blocked from going to South Korea to receive an award.

Continuing his jibe, Mahathir said the Malaysian constitution, apart from stating that passports are a privilege, also stipulates that the travel document would be confiscated if a person fails to praise the current prime minister.

"When I am abroad I will defend Najib and his democratic government. I give my word that I (with my tongue in cheek) will do so.

"Three cheers for 1MDB and money in the PM's pocket," he added.

Mahathir said the country would turn into a big prison for those who voice out against the prime minister to the foreign media when abroad.

Accusing the current administration of exporting the Najib brand of censorship, he claimed that the objective is to place the foreign media under control similar to the Malaysian media.
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"How is the foreign censorship and control to be done. Simple. The passports are a privilege. Deprive Malaysians of this privilege.

"Take away their passports if they fail to praise Najib when speaking to the foreign media. It is totally and absolutely the democratic thing to do.

"All democracies in the world take away the passports of their citizens if they tell the foreign media anything bad about their leaders.

"Malaysians, under Najib's democracy, must do the same," he added.

Najib has denied the corruption allegations against him, and blamed Mahathir for orchestrating a campaign using the foreign media to topple him from power.