Choose between Muhyiddin or me in party polls, says Mahathir

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has described the upcoming Bersatu party elections as the best avenue for members to choose between him and current premier Muhyiddin Yassin.

"Soon there will be a Bersatu election, maybe he will contest and I will. Let's see who wins but the government won't fall.

“People who are on his side hold positions, (but) he may no longer be the leader of Bersatu,” he said an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday.

Malaysiakini had reported that a showdown between the two former allies was looming with a total of 189 Bersatu divisions set to vote for their new national leadership on April 18.

Following the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government, Mahathir had wanted to form a new government of technocrats that did not follow party lines.

However, he was out-manoeuvred by Muhyiddin, who joined forces with PKR defectors — BN, PAS, GPS — and other minor parties.

Muhyiddin, who was sworn in as prime minister on March 1, had also sought to take control of Bersatu by assuming the position of acting Bersatu chairperson, ignoring Mahathir's official hold on the position.

According to Bersatu's constitution, the position of chairperson is the ultimate authority, superseding the position of president. Muhyiddin is the current Bersatu president.

His move to seize control of the party’s top post means the seat is now in dispute but this may not last for long with the polls on the horizon.

Mahathir acknowledged that Bersatu was now split into two factions but insisted that this was true of all parties.

He went on to say he was keeping a close eye on Muhyiddin's Perikatan Nasional government and wanted to see if anyone from the government would be sentenced to prison if found guilty on current charges (in reference to corruption charges facing ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several others).

He added that he was not ready to support Muhyiddin even though such leaders facing court charges have not been included in the latter's cabinet.

"Right now, I am not ready to meet him. Because I want to see what he can do that I could not do," said Mahathir.

"For the time being, I cannot support this. This is because Muhyiddin befriends thieves, rascal, kleptocrats."

Mahathir also said that Umno now had the power to cause the collapse of Muhyiddin's government as it had more MPs.

"At this time, I feel that the influence of kleptocracy is still strong," he said.

Mahathir went on to claim that as a result of the Malays breaking up into several parties, they were no longer the kingmakers.

"If we want to win, we must be able to gain the support of the non-Malays. So they become kingmakers because we broke up.” - Mkini