UMNO has lost its identity and now serves as a vehicle for Prime Minister Najib Razak to siphon off government funds, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today, adding that he will never return to the Malay-based party he once led.

“It is no longer Umno. It is Najib’s party,” the former party president and prime minister said after chairing a Pakatan Harapan meeting in Putrajaya today. 

“He (Najib) has used it in order to give him the power to steal money. I don’t stay with parties that steal people’s money by the billions. 

“So forget about it. I’m not going back,” Dr Mahathir said.

He was commenting on a Facebook post by Nazifuddin Najib, the eldest son of Najib, who called on Dr Mahathir to remember second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein’s legacy and return to Umno.

“Razak brought Mahathir back into Umno’s fold to strengthen, defend, and raise Umno (and) leading Malaysia to the global stage. Not to destroy Umno,” said Nazifuddin, referring to his grandfather.

“Mahathir, return to the right path, that is the path Razak paved for you to become the fourth prime minister,” he added.

Dr Mahathir acknowledged that he was once the leader of the dominant Barisan Nasional component party.

“Of course, I came from the same party. But I didn’t steal money. I didn’t start 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

“But the consensus by the opposition is that I should be prime minister,” he said, claiming that although he was in his sunset years, he could not retire as long as Najib ruled as too much had been invested into developing the country.

“I feel (a sense of) responsibility to take on this prospect because of my experience under colonial rule, under Japanese rule… and I later came to help the new (Malaysian) government in tackling a lot of problems.

“The seventh prime minister is going to have a very tough job because we are tackling problems created by Najib.”

Dr Mahathir said he made the decision to resign in 2002 as he felt that the country’s finances were doing well.

“I left the country in shipshape condition. But after these two others took over, we had problems,” he said, referring to former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib.

He said projects, such as national automaker Proton, were tenable under his administration.

“(Proton) was making so much money, that it built Tanjung Malim with its own money. It was a profitable venture, and then of course, the government decided to fiddle with it,” he said, citing failures to provide research grants and efforts to streamline vendors.

Dr Mahathir blamed Najib’s government for allegedly selling three Kedah islands to foreigners, to be developed as an island.

“Of course, in Langkawi itself… it is a very sophisticated town, where the people of Langkawi need only look up and strain their necks to view the 60-storey buildings that they have no chance of getting into.

“I don’t know which part of Malaysia Najib is going to sell next. But, when he needs money, he will sell chunks of land. Maybe Malacca will be next.”

Asked whether he would contest in Langkawi, he reiterated that he had yet to decide between Langkawi, Kubang Pasu and Putrajaya.

When told by a reporter that DAP leader Zaid Ibrahim had said none of the three were “safe seats”, and that the former prime minister should contest elsewhere, Dr Mahathir said: “Then, I can’t contest if none of them are safe.”

“I’ll let you know when the time comes,” he said, when asked when he would announce his candidacy. – January 23, 2018.