KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 ― Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has denied instructing the Election Commission (EC) to remove Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s picture from a DAP billboard during campaigning in the 14th general election.

Najib also told news portal Malaysiakini that there was talk of internal sabotage within the EC and Umno by certain people who were still loyal to Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir.

"That is just speculation. I don't want to, I mean, some people say it is sabotage, who knows?

"You just have to put the pieces together and ask the relevant people. Sometimes it doesn't happen at the top, it happens down the line but I wouldn't want to make any specific accusations,” Najib was quoted saying.

Malaysiakini reported in April that enforcement officers had cut out Dr Mahathir’s face from a billboard in Ayer Hitam that was contested by DAP’s Liew Chin Tong and MCA’s Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong.

Najib also told Malaysiakini that he did not like the long queues at polling centres during the May 9 election, pointing out that older voters who were usually pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) would be discouraged from voting if they had to wait for a long time.

""The inordinate lag of time people spent before they could cast their votes, disappointed me. A lot of our supporters were turned away or decided to go back and they were frustrated, they had to wait three to four hours before they could vote.

"These were the things that should never have happened,” he was quoted saying.