KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was wrongly mentioned as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s possible replacement, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The elder statesman, who is spearheading the Save Malaysia movement that seeks Najib’s resignation, also told Zahid that it was he who needed to move on, in response to the deputy prime minister who reportedly told Dr Mahathir to move on after a Saudi Arabian official said the RM2.6 billion donation to Najib came from Saudi Arabia.

“I think Zahid needs to move on more than I do. But unfortunately he has nowhere to go,” Dr Mahathir wrote on his blog.

“When his name was mistakenly mentioned as a possible successor to Najib, there was an uproar as the free citizens of Malaysia voiced their rejection,” the former prime minister added.

Former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, both of whom are part of the Save Malaysia movement, recently endorsed Zahid as the next prime minister, sparking alarm among some activists who are also part of the bipartisan group.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir had on Friday told reporters in Istanbul, Turkey, that his country’s government was “aware of the donation and it is a genuine donation with nothing expected in return”.

He, however, did not elaborate on the identity of the donor or why the RM2.6 billion was given to Najib.