Dr Mahathir Mohamad unleashed a "misplaced attack" when he berated former Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid over the RM31.5 billion Bank Negara forex losses, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

He said the former prime minister instead should be angry with DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang.

“Murad merely testified in the Royal Commission of Inquiry hearing about the real amount of forex losses, which he revealed was RM31.5 billion, and not RM5.7 billion.

"It was Kit Siang, however, who for 20 years has been asking for the RCI on Bank Negara’s forex losses,” he wrote in his blog today.

Yesterday, Mahathir pinned the blame for the losses on Murad, claiming the former assistant governor had known about the losses, but chose to keep quiet about it until the RCI.

Salleh claimed that since Mahathir now needed Kit Siang as his political ally, while Kit Siang needed Mahathir for Malay votes, both performed U-turns on the forex scandal.

“The level of hypocrisy demonstrated by Mahathir and Kit Siang shows that they regard political expediency as more important than getting to the truth.

“Was it not Kit Siang who demanded the truth, and Mahathir who said he only seeks the truth?” he said.

- Bernama