kuala lumpur malaysian state royal council thursday urge authorities investigate former prime minister mahathir mohamad sedition allege insult trace descent southeast asian region ancient bugis seafaring community past weeks mahathir 93 sharply criticize comment opposition rally last month report describe prime minister najib razak bugis pirate mahathir remark former protege come context allege mismanagement billions dollars state fund 1malaysia development berhad 1mdb najib deny wrongdoing investigation legal action must take dr mahathir sedition act 1948 relate laws royal council western state selangor say statement issue secretary hanafisah jais mahathir comment rally excessive add could spark hatred bugis ethnicity besides speech indirectly insult bugis lineage sultanate selangor selangor sultan sharafuddin idris shah urge party particularly politicians avoid use racial issue political capital could disrupt harmony unity statement say police immediately available comment mahathir office immediately respond reuters request comment former prime minister last month say criticism target bugis ancestry steal people money news report say body represent malaysia bugis community demand mahathir apologize retract statement state news agency bernama say last month thousands malaysians rally oct. 14 finale two-month-long opposition roadshow aim convince majority malay muslim voters rural battleground areas malaysia suffer najib handle 1mdb najib far able weather scandal consolidate power clamp dissenters curb domestic media activists even face fierce challenge mahathir prime minister 22 years najib popularity take hit persistent bad press link 1mdb especially u.s. department justice file civil suit recover 1.7 billion allege misappropriate 1mdb fund originally seafarers hail indonesia bugis community establish sultanates malaysian peninsula malaysian descendants consider part malay majority make half malaysia population nearly 33 million malaysian state 's royal council urge sedition probe former leader mahathir