KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The termination of several senior government officials in July 2015, dubbed the "week of long knives”, must be investigated fully to prevent a recurrence, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said today.

The Gelang Patah MP also urged Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to present a White Paper on the matter at the next parliamentary sitting next month.

"The ensuing ‘Week of Long Knives’ represented the most serious, deplorable and disgraceful attack on the democratic principles of the Malaysian Constitution and the independence, impartiality and professionalism of all the important national institutions in the history of the  country.

"These dark events must never be allowed to recur in the future and this is why the fullest light must be allowed to expose all of the Federal Government that allowed such a dastardly chapter in the history of Malaysian democracy to happen,” he said in a statement.

On May 27, Lim proposed a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abrupt removal of several seasoned government officials during the Najib administration, including Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as rural development minister, then Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and Tan Sri Abu Kassim as then head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission amid rumours of charges against the then prime minister.

The DAP politician claimed the move was orchestrated by then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to suppress the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, describing it as an attack against democracy.