Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad broke down thrice during the fateful meeting of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) on Feb 23 where some leaders wanted the party out of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
These leaders insisted on Bersatu leaving Pakatan Harapan (PH) because they thought PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would oust Mahathir for the post of prime minister, Kedah Mentri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said today.
Mukhriz, who is the youngest son of Mahathir, revealed that he sat in the meeting dumbfounded by the sheer bullying by several Bersatu leaders during the discussions, forcing the 94-year-old premier to break down thrice. Mahathir stood firm.
“Each time, Mahathir reminded them of his principle of working with Umno en bloc. If Umno wants back in, their good leaders should exit the party and join Bersatu,” Mukhriz said.
“If they had persisted further, I would have lost my temper with them. How can they treat my father like this? Things were heated.”
In the end, some leaders betrayed Mahathir, Mukhriz said in a briefing with Bersatu grassroots at Seri Mentaloon.
He singled out the traitors as former Umno strongman Hamzah Zainuddin, who he alleged of having joined Bersatu with the hidden agenda to weaken the party.
Then, there was Mahathir’s political secretary Zahid Md Arip besides Muhyiddin Yassin, who conspired to take the party out with the intention to overthrow the PH ruling coalition, he added.
Mukhriz said Mahathir had resigned as Bersatu chairman and earlier as the prime minister because of what had transpired in the meeting.
Mahathir did it because he no longer commanded the support from his own party, he added.
Bersatu will embark on a road show to explain to the grassroots what had transpired and to also begin the preparations to challenge the move to form a federal government through the backdoor, said Mukhriz.
It is learnt that there are now also attempts to remove Muhyiddin from Bersatu.
Meanwhile, Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman echoed what Mukhriz said. He defended Mahathir, saying he should not be blamed for the political fiasco last week.
In a talk with about 200 members in Alor Setar, Kedah, Syed Saddiq said traitors within Bersatu used Mahathir’s name to lure MPs to Sheraton Hotel on Feb 23, where Umno and PAS members were present to form a new alliance to topple the sitting government.
The event, known now as the “Sheraton Move”, that Sunday before the PH government collapsed was allegedly organised by Azmin Ali to garner support for Mahathir.
“During a meeting earlier to discuss the issue (of Bersatu in PH), Mahathir appealed three times to his party leadership not to let him go against his principles,” claimed the former youth and sports minister.
“He insisted on not working with Umno en bloc. That is why he asked for time to salvage the situation,” Syed Saddiq recalled.
“He did not know what transpired in Sheraton, but his name was constantly used to tell Bersatu MPs to leave Harapan,” claimed the Muar MP.
Syed Saddiq also named Mahathir’s political secretary Zahid Mat Arip as the party’s “number one traitor”, who kept using his boss’ name to lure Bersatu MPs to leave PH.
Syed Saddiq said by Monday, Mahathir was forced to resign when his party no longer listened to him.
His resignation was seen as “collapsing the PH government but it was not him”, said Syed Saddiq.
Syed Saddiq reminded the members about the reason why they joined Bersatu, which was formed to fight kleptocracy and corruption.
“What happened now? Bersatu is working with Umno again. Where is our dignity?
Syed Saddiq said Bersatu opened the door to Umno to enter Putrajaya due to position and power.
He reiterated his stand, saying he will not compromise and would never work with a kleptocrat government with Umno leaders like former premier Najib Abdul Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.