SUBANG JAYA, July 24 — The National Patriots Association (Patriot) today asked the authorities to investigate a letter from the Prime Minister’s Department seeking US support for Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the run-up to the May 9 general election.

The society of former servicemen said the matter was important as national security and Malaysia’s sovereignty were at stake.

"We view this seriously as such an act is detrimental to parliamentary democracy. It is also sabotage,” Patriot’s public relations director Captain (R) Wong Ah Peng told a news conference at its headquarters here.

The group was referring to a letter to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Gina Haspel, purportedly written by Datuk Hasanah Ab Hamid, who was at that time the director-general of the research division under the Prime Minister’s Department, and which supposedly requested support to keep Najib in power.

Wong said involving a foreign power’s intelligence in Malaysian affairs is tantamount to treason and the society had earlier filed a complaint at the Subang Jaya police station.

Patriot president Brig Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji said the association is shocked that someone like Hasanah, who has been entrusted with the responsibility to ensure national security, had approached an external authority to meddle in the country’s affairs.

"Did the former DG (Hasanah) have a feeling that Barisan Nasional (BN) will be defeated in the polls and needed help from the CIA to shift the election results to be in favour of BN?” he asked.

"It is also worth wondering what kind of ‘assistance’ the US would have rendered if the letter was accepted,” he said.

He also questioned the loyalty of the DG and the ties to the external agencies.

"Or was the letter written under pressure or by certain people who wanted to secure BN’s victory no matter what?” he asked.

Mohamed Arshad also said it was wrong for the letter writer to accuse Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad of being ‘anti-Semite’ and ‘anti-West’.

"No answer will be sufficient to cover up this blunder. We are ex-servicemen who will stand strong to defend this country,” he said.