No action can be taken against Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud for alleged corruption as there has yet to be a formal complaint lodged against him, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

The Star quoted the prime minister as saying that those who want to see action taken against Taib should lodge a report with the MACC.

"For us to take action, there must be a report by someone. Up to this moment, there was a lot of talks but no proper report, so we have not taken any action just yet.

"But if the people of Sarawak wish us to take action, they can make a charge or complaint and we will look into it," the prime minister was quoted telling a special session with Malaysians living in Jakarta last night.

Mahathir is in Jakarta for talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

He was responding to a remark by a Malaysian from Sarawak during the question and answer session, who urged the Pakatan Harapan government to display the same amount of interest in acting against the former chief minister as it does in pursuing the embezzlement in 1MDB.

Last month, the leader of Sarawak NGO Movement for Change Sarawak (MOCS), Francis Paul Siah, had called on newly appointed MACC chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull to reopen the file on Taib.

Siah had reminded that he had lodged a MACC report against Taib in March 2011, but seven years have elapsed without a single update on the file.

Soon after taking office as the prime minister for the second time, Mahathir had also urged those with evidence of alleged corruption in Sarawak to adduce evidence.

Taib ruled Sarawak as chief minister from 1981 and 2014 - the longest-serving chief executive ever of a Malaysian state.

His tenure was riddled with allegations of corruption, unbridled deforestation and that his family members had extensive business interests in government projects.