Mahathir admits allowing Hamzah to court Umno, PAS before Sheraton Move

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitted complicity in Bersatu's efforts to court support from Umno and PAS prior to the Sheraton Move.

However, the nonagenarian claimed he did not know this was meant to pave the way for the party's exit from Pakatan Harapan.

Detailing the events in his latest autobiography, "Capturing Hope", Mahathir said in early 2020, Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin (above) began collecting statutory declarations from Umno and PAS MPs supporting him as prime minister.

"At the time, I did not object as I thought this would strengthen my position and enable Bersatu to become a stronger member of Harapan.

"Much later, I realised that what was actually taking place was a stealth campaign to separate me from the rest of the Harapan government," he wrote.

 Mahathir said Hamzah later tried to convince him to leave Harapan, but this did not come to fruition as he refused to work with Umno.

Exploring the need to strengthen Bersatu, the former party chairperson remarked earlier in his book that Bersatu was not strong enough to help Harapan face challenges that resulted in by-election defeats.

He blamed this partly on Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin - who he said was in charge of developing the party - by appointing former Umno members as division leaders, who operated as warlords and refused new members.

This, he said, resulted in Bersatu having weak machinery.

Mahathir also said that before the Sheraton Move, Muhyiddin had also been lobbying him to get Bersatu to join forces with Umno and PAS to form a "Malay-Muslim government", citing concerns over DAP's influence.

However, he said, allegations that DAP controlled the Harapan government and that Malay interests were being undermined were false narratives perpetuated by his nemesis Najib Abdul Razak

"All the talk about the DAP having me under their thumb or the DAP plotting to take over the country was utter nonsense.

"I never felt any pressure from the DAP, and I could easily show that (DAP secretary-general) Lim Guan Eng did not have any control over me," he said.

This was a point Mahathir would make repeatedly throughout the book, that DAP was supportive of him and referred to him as prime minister.

In general, his tone towards DAP in the book when they were working together was not negative, with certain exceptions, including the veiled jabs at Damansara MP Tony Pua.

However, he acknowledged that Umno and the government - which he previously led for 22 years - demonised DAP as the enemy of Malays and Islam.

Mahathir said Najib and his supporters in turn used this to attack the Harapan government, and he added that Muhyiddin came to believe this was true as well.

"I was astonished that Muhyiddin wanted me to betray and overthrow all the parties that helped us. If we didn’t leave Harapan, Muhyiddin said, the Malays would be hancur (crushed).

"This was what Najib and his people had been saying. Now Muhyiddin was saying it," he said.

Bersatu's machinations to leave Harapan resulted in the Mahathir-led government collapsing in February 2020.

Mahathir, on his part, attempted to turn the situation around and capitalise on the support he reportedly had from all sides to form a unity government.

He argued its merits in his book, defending it as a way to bring the country together.

However, the gambit failed, and in part led to Muhyiddin being installed as prime minister. - Mkini