Muhyiddin: I have never stolen party funds

 

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has denied that he stole the party’s money, a day after his own members said such allegations were “manipulated”.

“I strenuously deny accusations from Dr Mahathir Mohamad in a viral video that I stole the party’s money and kept it at my house,” Muhyiddin said in a statement today.

“This is a wild allegation that is without basis. I have never stolen the party’s money. All contributions have been funnelled to the party’s accounts, which are transparently managed by the treasurer-general,” he wrote in a social media post.

He said that Mahathir, a Bersatu founder and former chairperson, had probably made the accusation after the latter received wrong information from irresponsible parties.

“As a statesperson, he should have sought clarification from me first before making the allegation against me. In all our meetings, he has never raised this issue with me,” Muhyiddin said.

On Dec 12, Johor Bersatu Youth claimed that a two-minute video clip containing the allegations had been manipulated by certain irresponsible parties and spread on WhatsApp.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Alias Rasman, who is the state youth wing chief, claimed that Mahathir was referring to someone else instead of Muhyiddin and that the video had been “edited” for the political benefit of certain individuals.

Alias added that he will take legal action against individuals who were responsible for the edited clip.

In his statement, Muhyiddin said, despite the allegations, he still respects Mahathir as a senior citizen.

“I have supported his efforts to unite the Malays, and we are still close. Therefore, I have no intention of dragging him to court.”

Avoiding jail

The video clip began circulating on WhatsApp yesterday, with a caption saying Mahathir revealed that Muhyiddin wanted to become the prime minister to avoid imprisonment.

Mahathir, in the footage, was heard saying that a certain someone “had some problems” and “wanted to be a prime minister not to serve” but instead out of fear of getting jailed.

“Because he also stole money. I know. It is the party’s money. Money was given to the party (but) he did not surrender it to the party, instead he kept it at his house,” Mahathir was heard saying, but without directly mentioning any name.

In a later part, the former Langkawi MP was heard criticising Muhyiddin, saying the latter did not listen to his advice against cooperating with Najib Abdul Razak. - Mkini