“We have no wish to take revenge on anybody, but the rule of law applies to everybody, whether you are the incumbent prime minister or retired prime minister.

“In Malaysia, the rulers are also subject to the laws of the country,” he told the Malaysian media at the end of his two-day day visit to Thailand.

Mahathir said this when asked about a slew of fresh charges levelled against former prime minister Najib Razak and former treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today.

He said they were charged because there was evidence against them which could stand up in court.

“I suppose the people who filed the charges must have evidence to charge Najib and the others for something very serious,” he said.

Besides Najib and Irwan, the government has also levelled charges against the former prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and current Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the former deputy prime minister.

They were charged with various offences.

On whether Anwar Ibrahim would take over as prime minister as promised, Mahathir said: “As far as I’m concerned, I will step down. That is my promise.

“Once Anwar takes over the government, the PH de facto leader is also free to pick his own members of Cabinet,” he said.

On the landslide in Penang, which claimed several lives last Friday, the prime minister wanted the authorities to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter.

Contractors should be careful about the location they choose to build roads and they should ensure that they are not built on unstable soil as this can cause landslides, the prime minister said.

On whether the Penang undersea tunnel project should proceed in view of the landslide, he said it was possible if proper studies, due diligence and feasibility analysis were conducted.