IN pursuit of his personal agenda, former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his new party Bersatu, have become tools of the anti-Malay, anti-Islam DAP, said Umno president Najib Razak.

Najib made the oft-repeated allegation in his policy speech to thousands of Umno members as he prepared the party to fight the iconic former prime minister who led Umno for 22 years.

“He once spoke on this platform and said Malays easily forget (mudah lupa). But he has crossed the line.

“He says he wants to fight for Malays and Islam but he is aligned to and is now a tool of DAP that is clearly anti-Malay and anti-Islam,” Najib said.

Dr Mahathir, who was once Najib’s mentor and responsible for the latter’s ascension in Umno, is now a leader of opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan – Umno’s biggest threat in the 14th general election.

Najib said Dr Mahathir was willing to work with his long-time political enemies just so he could advance his personal and family interests.

“The Malay who easily forget is he himself,” Najib said using a phrase that Dr Mahathir had coined (Melayu mudah lupa).

Najib’s speech was generously peppered with snide remarks directed at Dr Mahathir.

Dr Mahathir has also not been stingy with his insults, calling his one time protégé thief, robber, and thug, over the prime minister’s alleged role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

At one point in his speech, Najib called Dr Mahathir, the “father of all tolls” for the many agreements he had signed during his 22 years as the prime minister with concessionaires to build tolled highways.

Najib had sarcastically described Dr Mahathir’s comments on the People’s Aid Scheme (BR1M) as a series of ‘U-turns’.

“In the past he said it was a bribe to the people. But now it is the opposite, he has made a U-turn. If they were to win, a targeted subsidy such as BR1M will be introduced. They copied us,” Najib said.

“This is their attitude. Apa nama (whatshisname). Always making u-turns, u-turns and u-turns.”

“Apa nama” is a common expression attributed to Dr Mahathir, who had formerly called BR1M a form of bribery.

The PH coalition which Dr Mahathir now heads, has promised to maintain but reform the BR1M system of it should it come into power.

Najib added that Dr Mahathir was still trapped in a colonial mindset after the latter insulted Malaysians of Bugis descent.

“How low can his mentality go? Umno celebrates the diversity of the Malay community’s heritage.

“In fact, we accepted a mamak, Malabari from Kerala (Indian-Muslim Malabari from Kerala) into the Malay community and we did not even ask them to go home,” Najib said, referring to Dr Mahathir’s Indian ancestry.

Dr Mahathir sparked a storm of protest from Indonesians of Bugis descent when he called Najib a “Bugis thief”. – December 7, 2017.