PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be temporarily ­unavailable for police questioning into his presence at the Bersih 4 rally as he is overseas until Sept 9.

According to his personal aide, the former prime minister is currently on a trip to Jordan.

“It is up to the police to call Dr Mahathir anytime they want. How­ever, he is currently overseas,” said the aide here yesterday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had said yesterday that the former prime minister and other politicians, including Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali, would be called in to have their statements recorded over the rally during the weekend.

On Saturday night, Dr Mahathir and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali had paid a surprise visit to Dataran Merdeka, hours after he told a crowd in Johor that he was thinking of joining the rally.

He made a second appearance the next day and gave a speech at the rally accusing Umno leaders of bribery.

Dr Mahathir later clarified in a blog posting that he had joined the rally because he wanted to show solidarity, adding that he was, however, not a supporter of Bersih 2.0.

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