SHAH ALAM: An Umno leader today has challenged former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to declare all his assets, including those owned by his family.
Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi, who is also an Umno Supreme Council member, said Dr Mahathir should come clean on the matter since he has never denied claims that his children and family owned "an extraordinary fortune".
"The people of Malaysia are wondering how much is his family's wealth and from where did they acquired them. Till this day, he has been quiet about it." he said, in a statement today.
Puad said he wondered why was Dr Mahathir appeared to be dodging the issue by keeping silent.
"Is he avoiding to answer these questions because of fear or is he ashamed because the wealth was from corrupt practices as alleged by opposition leaders such as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Rafizi Ramli and the late Karpal Singh?
"He too had never taken legal action against them over this," he said.
Puad added that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should take the initiative to investigate Dr Mahathir if he refused to explain and prove that his family's wealth did not originate from corrupt practises.