“No, he did not force me,” Siti Hasmah said in a video posted on Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Facebook page, adding that she had done it to show solidarity with her husband.
“I did so because if my husband had felt that way, I as his wife have to sympathise with him and stand by his decision.”
Siti Hasmah said although she considered herself “a child of Selangor”, she had no choice but to also return the awards.
https://www.facebook.com/TunDrMahathir/videos/10155221641298652/
Siti Hasmah, who was born in Klang, was the recipient of the Datuk Paduka Mahkota Selangor and Seri Paduka Mahkota Selangor awards in 1983 and 1994 respectively.
Mahathir’s decision to return the awards last week came in the wake of strong criticism against the former leader by Selangor ruler, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
The sultan had first criticised Mahathir following the latter’s speech during Pakatan Harapan’s “anti-kleptocracy” rally in October, in which he referred to Prime Minister Najib Razak as a “descendant of Bugis pirates”.
The Selangor royal household are descendants of the Bugis ethnic group.
Mahathir has maintained that his remarks were only against Najib and not directed at the Bugis community.
The sultan further criticised and condemned Mahathir in separate interviews published by The Star and Utusan Malaysia.