Amidst the raging political battle, comes a book which details the "failures" of Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his 22 years in office.

Titled 'Dosa-dosa Mahathir' (Sins of Mahathir), the book was launched at 3pm today at veteran author Syed Hussein Al-attas' residence in Janda Baik.

However, the author told Malaysiakini that the book was not penned in support of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who has come under intense criticism from Mahathir.

Syed Hussein, who is popularly known as Pak Habib, explained that he merely recorded the incidents which occurred during Mahathir's tenure as prime minister from 1981-2003.

"This is my job. As a writer, we document what has happened. Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years and he failed.

"Suddenly now, he appears to be mengigau (talking in his sleep) . Perhaps he has gone senile," he quipped.

Fighting with pen

At a press conference after the launch, Syed Hussein said the book was meant to remind readers of Mahathir's 'sins'.

"People today only talk about Najib's (sins). Now we can look (back) on what Mahathir has done.

"Najib and Anwar ( photo ) Ibrahim were Mahathir's proteges. Have we forgotten how many years he spent uplifting them and now he suddenly wants to 'kill' them?

"I can't fight with my hands, so I fight with my pen. That is my sharpest weapon," the author added.

Also present at the launch was pro-Umno blogger Shahbudin Husin who has penned four anti-Najib books as well as Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (Samm) chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard.