‘DR M WANTED TO AVOID PARTY RE-ELECTION’
He allowed Umno to be declared illegal to avoid contesting against Tengku Razaleigh, claims Rompin MP
TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad deliberately allowed Umno to be declared illegal after he nearly lost the party presidency to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in 1987, said an Umno lawmaker on Tuesday.
Rompin member of parliament Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin was quoted by news portal Umno Online as saying that Dr Mahathir did so to avoid a reelection for Umno’s top post.
In the leadership election held by Umno on April 24, 1987, Dr Mahathir retained the party presidency after edging out Tengku Razaleigh by a razorthin majority of 43 votes.
Hasan said Dr Mahathir, in his capacity as prime minister at the time, could have taken measures to avoid Umno’s de-registration that year.
“But, he didn’t do anything because he wanted Umno to be declared illegal to avoid a reelection be- tween him and Teng- ku Razaleigh,” he said during the “Siri Jelajah Penerangan Perjuangan 4 All” programme in Shah Alam.
Hassan said Dr Mahathir was willing to go to such lengths because his loyalty to Umno was determined by how long he could use the party to further his political agenda.
“Dr Mahathir is merely using Umno to become the prime minister and rule.
“He doesn’t really possess the Umno spirit nor is he loyal to Umno’s struggles.
“On the contrary, he is making use of Umno for his personal political agenda and gains.”
Hassan said Dr Mahathir was willing to do anything to further his aims, including forming an alliance with DAP despite labelling it as an enemy of Islam and Malays for the past 22 years.
“Dr Mahathir is acting this way today because he realises that he can no longer make use of Umno to achieve his personal agenda.”
Hassan said following the reestablishment of Umno, Dr Mahathir proceeded to block his political rivals from rejoining the party.
“Many politicians were prevented from joining the new Umno.
“They included big names and Malay statesmen, like Datuk Harun Idris, the former Selangor menteri besar.”
Present were Pendang MP Datuk Othman Abdul, Shah Alam Umno division chief Datuk Azhari Shaari and Selangor Umno liaison committee chairman Tan Sri Noh Omar.