Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is continuously attacking Umno to cover up his failure to create an alternative to the party, said an Umno leader today.
Party vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin cited Bersatu and Pejuang as examples of Mahathir's ventures post-Umno, which he said failed to make an impact among Malay voters.
“Mahathir’s latest attack on Umno shows he has never ‘moved on’ from the party. He is continuously attacking the party to clear up his own failure to provide an alternative to Umno.
“His ‘experiment’ with Bersatu clearly failed, to the extent that those who believed to be clean and loyal, ended up rejecting him as the party's chairperson and the prime minister.
“That must have been a shameful failure,” Khaled (above, right) said in a statement posted on Facebook today.
Following his expulsion from Bersatu, Mahathir went on to start Pejuang, which also failed to make an impact by not winning a single seat in the Johor state election in March, he noted.
“Realising that Pejuang was yet another failure, Mahathir is now backing Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA). He is travelling nationwide ‘picking’ those he did not even look at with one eye, previously.”
Political reality has changed
According to Khaled, Umno was a party that put Mahathir on a pedestal as long as he led it.
“No matter how heinous Umno seems for Mahathir, the party has never backstabbed him, like what Bersatu did.
“Umno put him as one of the longest and most successful prime ministers, and dignified him post-retirement,” he noted.
Perhaps it is time the nonagenarian realised that the country’s political reality has changed compared to his time, Khaled added.
He claimed the Malays will still choose Umno over other alternatives, adding that this is why parties like Bersatu and Pejuang have been rejected.
“Umno leaders are not infallible. We have weaknesses, and we admit them.
“But Umno remains relevant because its supporters know that it is unfair to punish the party just because some of its leaders are embroiled in controversies,” said Khaled.
The former Johor menteri besar was responding to a remark by Mahathir on Tuesday (Sept 6) that the imprisonment of former prime minister and former Umno president Najib Abdul Razak will not cleanse the party of its tainted image.
Najib was on Aug 23 sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering linked to RM42 million of SRC International funds.
He has since filed a petition for a royal pardon and his status as the Pekan MP would depend on the outcome of the petition.
Najib also still faces four ongoing criminal cases involving 1MDB, audit report tampering, the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), and another SRC case. - Mkini
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