Mat Hasan: Dr M told me he still loves Umno

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan has claimed that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad once admitted he still "loved Umno" and would never declare the party illegal.

Speaking during a ceramah in Semenyih last night, Mohamad said Mahathir made the admission during their meeting last October, an event which later sparked controversy.

Mohamad further alleged Mahathir later "twisted the facts" by claiming that he (Mohamad) had expressed an intention to join Bersatu.

"I told Tun, don't dissolve Umno. This is a Malay party, so it would also not be good for him (if Umno was dissolved).

"He (Mahathir) then said, 'Who wants to dissolve Umno? Mat Hasan, I love Umno more. I was Umno president for more than 22 years'," said Mohamad.

"But he (Mahathir) also said Umno has now been destroyed by Najib and other Umno leaders," he added.

Previously several photographs of Mohamad and other Umno leaders, including Noh Omar, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Shahidan Kassim, meeting with Mahathir had gone viral.

On Dec 13, Mohamad denied their meeting with Mahathir was about them jumping ship from Umno to Bersatu as widely speculated online.

Instead, he explained that the meeting was to discuss Mahathir's call for Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to dissolve the party.

Commenting further on the meeting held following Mahathir's return from  attending the 73rd UN summit in New York, Mohamad insisted the Harapan chairperson had attempted to twist the facts on what had transpired between them.

Similarly, Mohamad also claimed Mahathir had made a similarly misleading statement that PAS will not back Umno in the Semenyih polls as allegedly communicated during his meeting with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan and Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar.

"I asked Takiyuddin and he said, 'No such thing Tok. We went and discussed (oil) royalty and we discussed the appointment of (Economic Affairs Minister) Mohamed Azmin Ali as chairperson of Kelantan's state action committee'," said Mohamad. - Mkini