I mooted alliance with PN as I thought Muhyiddin had repented, says Dr M

 

Once comrades in Bersatu, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin are now political rivals.

PETALING JAYA: Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he suggested an alliance with Perikatan Nasional (PN), thinking that his counterpart, Muhyiddin Yassin had repented after being toppled as prime minister by Umno MPs.

However, Muhyiddin, who is PN’s chairman, did not, said Mahathir in a video clip posted online.

Mahathir noted that Bersatu, led by Muhyiddin, had lost control of several state governments to Umno when the latter was prime minister, but Muhyiddin had “allowed it to happen as long as he could remain the PM”.

“I gave him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that he would have repented after the PN-led government was toppled and humiliated by Umno,” said Mahathir in a video.

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“It is okay that he betrayed me,” Mahathir said, in a reference to the Sheraton Move of February 2020 in which Bersatu left Pakatan Harapan, causing the fall of the PH government.

Mahathir said he thought Muhyiddin would try to make amends for his actions. “Turns out he is still arrogant and (still) wants to become the prime minister (again).”

Muhyiddin was appointed as prime minister in March 2020 after the Sheraton Move, and resigned 17 months later after 14 Umno MPs retracted their support for him.

Mahathir’s comments came in response to a recent claim by Muhyiddin that Mahathir, then Bersatu chairman, had been the first to initiate a move to take the party out of PH before backtracking on the idea.

Muhyiddin said Mahathir had changed his mind at the last minute after the PH presidential council decided to continue supporting him as prime minister until he completed his term.

However, Mahathir said that Muhyiddin was trying to deny being the “traitor” involved in the Sheraton Move and had instead tried to link Mahathir to the manoeuvre.

“Actually it is easy to identify who the traitor is here. There is a Latin term – cui bono – which means who stands to benefit from an act. Who became the ‘backdoor prime minister’? It wasn’t me but Muhyiddin.”

Mahathir also claimed that Muhyiddin was willing to work with “kleptocrats” , a term used by the opposition against Umno leaders.

He claimed that Muhyiddin had said that he knew how to deal with this group as he had 40 years’ experience in politics.

“In the end, he fell after being a PM for only 17 months after being betrayed by the Umno-BN MPs who were in cahoots with him in betraying the voters by forming a backdoor government.” - FMT