'Dr M easily swayed by smart, good-looking, charismatic people'

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is very easily misled and influenced by those "who seem smart, are good looking and charismatic", claimed former information minister Zainudin Maidin.

"Dr Mahathir often falls for those who are charismatic, he is easily influenced... (This is what) he saw in (his former deputy) Anwar Ibrahim, Najib also seems smart and he (Najib) is good looking, so he did not choose Muhyiddin, he chose Najib instead," he told Malaysiakini, FMT and Berita Daily in a joint interview.

"That is Mahathir's weakness, he is easily influenced (by such a person)," said Zainudin, or Zam as he is more popularly called.

According to Zam (photo), this is what led to Mahathir committing one of his gravest errors, choosing Najib over Muhyiddin to replace former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

He was commenting on how Mahathir had lobbied for Najib who was then deputy prime minister to replace Abdullah after he left Umno for the first time in 2008, after the political tsunami which saw BN losing its two-thirds majority.

After quitting the party in protest, he worked to pressure Abdullah to step down and supported Najib's ascension. Muhyiddin, who was the person who actually plunged the figurative dagger into Abdullah's back at an historic Umno supreme council meeting, was picked to become deputy prime minister.

However, in a political deja vu moment, Mahathir has quit the party for the second time, and this time he is supporting Muhyiddin who was removed from his post last year for openly criticising Najib and was replaced with the more amenable Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Indeed last Friday, the Malay party's supreme council has decided to suspend Muhyiddin from his party deputy president post for allegedly failing to fulfil his duties.

Muhyiddin is among Umno leaders who was vocal in criticising Najib about the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation scandals. His removal is seen as part of a political purge within Umno that saw cabinet ministers, MBs and grassroots leaders removed for criticising the party president.

Mistake to bring Anwar into Umno

Zam said that Mahathir made the same mistake like he did with Najib when he brought then maverick outsider Anwar into the mainstream by inviting him into Umno.

The former information minister claimed that Mahathir himself had admitted this.

"I told him that it was a big mistake to bring Anwar into Umno. I opposed the move from the beginning, as I can't accept it," Zam said.

Mahathir removed Anwar (photo) from his posts as DPM and finance minister in 1998, after what some has described as a low-key power struggle between the mentor and his former protege. He was also hit with an abuse of power and the first sodomy charge.

Anwar is now languishing in the Sungai Buloh Prison after the court sentenced him to five years in jail for his Sodomy II conviction. Many saw this as a continuation of the persecution of the former DPM by the government, taking off where Mahathir himself had left off in 1998.

Ironically, Mahathir and Anwar seem to be joining hands now, as both are calling for Najib to step down or be removed from power and their supporters moving toward forming an informal non-partisan coalition to oust Najib. -Mkini