Former prime minister urges Umno branches to introduce no-confidence motions against Najib Razak as party president and PM and demand that party elections be held this year as originally scheduled.
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad pointed out in an open letter to Umno members at the branch level that he never joined any other movement even when he was kicked out once from the party and left twice on his own accord. “I remained loyal to Umno, not because of its name, but because of its struggle for nation, religion and country.”
Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration, however was cruel and repressive, he said, adding, “Those who are not in accord with Najib will be relieved of their positions, sacked from the party, arrested and dragged to Court.”
“New laws have been made to give the Najib administration the authority to lock up anyone without trial.”
Mahathir was explaining why he decided to leave Umno. “Compared with other leaders, I have been long with the party.”
“I have accepted the call by the many who love this country to do something to bring back a just government for the people.”
He drew parallels with the Middle East where the people were not united and were more interested in fighting each other than their common enemy. “In politics, there must be a target. Our target must be Najib because he’s the enemy, having brought so much disaster to the party, government and country.
He urged members in particular who keep faith with the original struggle of Umno to help him save the party and the nation. “Introduce a no-confidence motion, during Umno branch meetings, in Najib as party president and prime minister, and also introduce a motion that the party election be held this year as originally scheduled and not put off until after the general election.”
He warned party members that they could not afford to wait until the 14th General Election in 2018 as Umno, under Najib, would surely lose. “Once Umno loses power, there’s no possibility of it making a comeback because by that time, the party cannot be brought back.”
He appealed to members to pause and consider the fact that Najib had made Umno a party that he owned. “Najib has weakened Umno through his lack of leadership. Hence, the party under Najib cannot win GE14.”
“The presence of Opposition parties did not erode the people’s support for Umno until Najib came. He has been an even bigger disaster than my successor and his predecessor Abdullah Badawi. The Opposition parties cannot defeat us but Najib can if he continues to lead the party.”
Najib, charged Mahathir, was the source of all the problems in the country. “1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) has increased the national debt burden by RM50 billion.”
“Much of the money has been lost. To replace the money, Najib has taken to selling government land which was once given to 1MDB at RM60 per square feet. The company sold some of this land at RM3,500 per square feet to Tabung Haji.”
Also, he continued, suddenly there were reports that Najib had RM2.6 billion in his personal banking accounts and a further RM42 million from SRC International. “The RM2.6 billion was claimed to be a donation from Arabs. This doesn’t make sense. The prime minister should not receive money from anyone especially such a large sum.”
Mahathir went on to reiterate that Umno was no longer what it once was and that its leaders were more interested in the benefits they could collect for themselves from Najib. “The nation’s image in the eyes of the world has been affected by so many scandals.”
However, he summed up, Umno leaders were only interested in themselves and not the fate of the party, government and the country.
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