KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — One of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s harshest critics, Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, has said that he is willing to forgive the former on a personal basis.

Despite that, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission advisory board chairman has labelled the former prime minister’s so-called past transgressions as "borderline crimes” that can only be forgiven by the court of law.

"When it comes to Mahathir’s actions that were against the nation, we have no business to forgive because that can only be granted by the criminal justice system,” he told Malay Mail.

"The apology in itself is fine, we can accept it on a personal level because humans make mistakes.

"While some mistakes can be as small as offending someone with words, some other can be bigger and requires more than just an apology,” he added.

Tunku Aziz was alluding to the many scandals Dr Mahathir was accused of during his 22-year administration, including the Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) foreign exchange scandal.

The former DAP national vice-chairman added that Dr Mahathir should be more specific with his apology instead of just calling it "faults” in his speech at the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s inaugural annual general meeting yesterday.

"What was he apologising for? That’s what we want to know. If he really is apologetic, he has to be upfront about his mistakes and wrongdoings,” he said.

Dr Mahathir has since clarified that his apology did not necessarily mean that he was admitting to any wrongdoing during his tenure as prime minister.

The 93-year-old said the apology was more of a general statement to ensure no parties were offended during his opening speech at the PPBM annual general meeting.

Both Dr Mahathir and Tunku Aziz have participated in a war of words over the last year, with the former accusing the latter of being a frog who hops here and there.

The latter had attacked Dr Mahathir over the BNM scandal, and accused Dr Mahathir of brokering a deal with DAP’s Lim Kit Siang to make his son Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir a prime minister candidate for the Opposition.