As the tussle over the transition plan between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim continued in Pakatan Harapan, a group of leaders was plotting a coup against the coalition.
And in February, the Harapan government collapsed following Mahathir’s resignation as prime minister after 22 months.
The nonagenarian, who is seeking to return to the post for a record third time, shared his thoughts on the infamous “Sheraton Move” during an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini.
He named Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin as the triumvirate behind the coup.
Mahathir appeared to be reserved with regard to his views on Azmin whose relationship with the former premier can be traced back to when the latter was a student in the US.
However, the 95-year-old politician did not mince words when it came to his former Bersatu comrades and even accused Muhyiddin of having a split personality.
“When we were together, (Muhyiddin) always said ‘I don’t want to be prime minister’. But behind my back, he asked others to nominate him.
“Muhyiddin has two personalities. One that recites prayers and another which oppresses people. He can oppress people while reciting prayers. It is his internal conflict,” he charged.
Following a week-long political crisis, Muhyiddin was appointed as prime minister of the nascent Perikatan Nasional government on March 1. He then named Azmin – who doubles as his de facto number two – as senior minister and Hamzah as home minister.
‘Steal 11 chickens, return one’
Commenting on the authorities investigating opposition figures over innocuous issues, Mahathir described it as an abuse of power.
“Government departments should not be used to harass political opponents. It is not their job but we know many follow the wants of the prime minister.
“During my time I never asked (government departments) to put pressure on anyone… That person who made billions disappear was free to go here and there and campaign,” he added in reference to former premier Najib Abdul Razak.
Mahathir also expressed outrage regarding the discharge of Najib’s stepson Riza Abdul Aziz over money-laundering charges amounting to US$248 million (RM1.25 billion) which was allegedly linked to 1MDB.
As part of the discharge, Riza had to forfeit assets worth an estimated US$108 million.
“We can see now that if you return one stolen chicken, they would say ‘Okay, you can keep the other 10’. This is the new law. What can we do?” asked Mahathir.
‘Revenge against Anwar’
As for Hamzah, Mahathir claimed the home minister had a sole agenda, which was to exact revenge on Anwar.
Hamzah, 63, was a veteran Umno politician who was immediately made a deputy minister upon entering the Dewan Rakyat in 2008. By 2015, he rose up the ranks to become a full minister.
Although his future in Umno was bright, Hamzah chose to join Mahathir in Bersatu along with 10 others last year.
However, Mahathir alleged that Hamzah resented Bersatu’s alliance with PKR.
“Hamzah had only one perjuangan (agenda). It was not race, religion and country. His perjuangan was revenge against Anwar.
“When he joined Bersatu, Bersatu was with PKR. PKR is led by Anwar. He wanted Bersatu to be out of Harapan and not be involved with Anwar.
“He has been working on this since the beginning… He planned to convince Umno and PAS to support me so that I would leave Harapan and join his new coalition, a coalition without Anwar,” he said.
“I told him a long time ago, ‘Your goal is Anwar’s downfall but we don’t share that objective’. However, he continued his campaign, how to detach (Bersatu) from Anwar who (at the time) might become prime minister.
“He wanted to prevent Anwar from becoming prime minister. So he formed a new coalition and wanted me to switch sides. I did not agree,” Mahathir claimed.
Asked if Hamzah was on a personal mission or a Trojan horse, Mahathir replied: “Both.”
“He joined Bersatu with bad intentions,” he added.
‘Azmin aided Muhyiddin and Hamzah’
Mahathir claimed that Azmin had aided Muhyiddin and Hamzah with regard to executing their plan but did not delve into details.
Azmin’s most visible role in the coup was engineering the withdrawal of 11 MPs from PKR and Harapan, and hosting the dinner with Umno, PAS and GPS politicians at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya on Feb 23.
Explaining the reason for appointing Azmin, who had served as Selangor menteri besar from 2014 to 2018, as economic affairs minister during his tenure as Harapan’s premier, Mahathir said he needed people who were experienced in governance.
“He possesses experience and I gave him a senior position… We thought he could help the Malays develop. That is all.
“Although some of his work was not properly managed, to me, any minister, even the prime minister, is not always right,” he added.
Mahathir said Azmin often consulted him on policy matters to ensure the two were on the same page and revealed the latter also sought his advice on matters related to PKR.
“I didn’t interfere. But sometimes, he came and asked for advice. There was a time he refused to attend his own party meetings. I said that was not right. You have to attend and he did.
“It would have been a problem if he left his party and joined Bersatu. His party would be torn apart. Therefore, I didn’t encourage him to leave the party,” he added.
After retaining the PKR deputy president’s post in late 2018, Azmin did not attend a single party leadership meeting until January this year due to his differences with Anwar.
During the protracted debate over the transition issue, Azmin had also made it clear on several occasions that Mahathir should be allowed to serve out a full term instead of passing the baton to Anwar.
Malaysiakini has contacted Muhyiddin’s aide and Hamzah for comment.
Mahathir met with Azmin, Hadi? Baseless allegation, says Marzuki
Claims that Dr Mahathir Mohamad had met with former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang are baseless allegations meant to cast aspersions on the former prime minister, said Marzuki Yahya.
“The statement which said Mahathir had a meeting with Azmin and Abdul Hadi is untrue and it is a baseless allegation.
“The rumour about these meetings is purposely trying to cast aspersions on Mahathir.
“Mahathir’s stand is clear and should not be belittled by any party because he wants the rakyat’s mandate to be returned as soon as possible as he does not want to see (prime minister) Muhyiddin Yassin’s government continue to ruin the country and damage the lives of the rakyat,” said Marzuki, who referred to himself as the Bersatu secretary-general in his statement.
He was responding to a PKR leader who, while revealing PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had met with Muhyiddin and Home Affairs Minister Hamzah Zainuddin, had also made the claim that Mahathir had met with Azmin and Abdul Hadi.
Mahathir did have meetings with Azmin and Abdul Hadi but they were prior to the collapse of Harapan which happened at the end of February this year.
Marzuki said Muhyiddin has shown he was “thirsty” for majority support so that he can remain in power until the next general election through several of his actions such as the mass appointments of MPs on his side to lucrative government positions.
He said Mahathir and several other Bersatu MPs remained principled despite their small numbers and they have not betrayed the mandate and trust given to them by the rakyat in the previous general election.
“Mahathir stood firm on his position not to work with leaders who have betrayed the rakyat’s mandate as well as leaders who jumped parties simply for power and for their own interest.
“On the contrary, Mahathir continues to fight and remains firm with Pakatan Harapan which was chosen by the rakyat in the 14th general election to lead Malaysia and carry out their agenda as well as their hopes as what the rakyat would want from him as the prime minister,” Marzuki said.
Malaysiakini had previously reported that DAP and Amanah had agreed to back Mahathir for his third stint as prime minister for six months with Anwar as his number two.
The thinking is that Harapan would not have the numbers to secure a firm majority to retake federal power without the 95-year-old politician and those aligned with him.
However, PKR then said they rejected Mahathir as the prime minister candidate in favour of maintaining the “Harapan consensus” to nominate Anwar as prime minister.
MKINI
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