Dr M doesn’t have strength to lead new party, says Ismail Sabri

Umno supreme council member Ismail Sabri Yaakob believes that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad no longer has the strength to lead the soon-to-be-formed new political party, since he has long retired from politics.

Ismail argued that Mahathir was not like leaders such as Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who have their own influence and strength.

“When Anwar was sacked from Umno, he was a strong deputy prime minister and with his influence in terms of support, he was able to undermine Umno’s strength at the time.

“But Mahathir has long retired. I think he no longer has the strength, if you compare him with Anwar and Tengku Razaleigh when they left Umno,” the rural and regional development minister told reporters at Wisma Felcra in Kuala Lumpur today.

He also opined that the new party will not have any effect on the rakyat and that only “those who are frustrated” would join the party.

“The new party won’t really have an effect on the rakyat. Maybe those who are quite frustrated will join the party,” Ismail said.

[More to follow]

-Mkini