FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has condemned certain groups for competing for power instead of wanting to govern the country.

Though the Langkawi lawmaker did not name anyone, it is believed that Mahathir was referring to Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s revelation yesterday that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had had an agreement with PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim to become the prime minister, which was kept from the public.

“There is a pact working to (elect) a new prime minister,” he was quoted as saying by Malay-language daily Berita Harian.

“That (power grab) is what they were working towards … not to govern the country.”

Yesterday, during a press conference, Tajuddin said Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had supported previous moves to make PKR president Anwar the prime minister.

The Pasir Salak MP, who is out of favour with the Umno president and was axed as a Supreme Council member last week, said Zahid had been behind efforts to obtain support from MPs for Anwar to be prime minister.

Tajuddin said he was also “forced” to sign a statutory declaration (SD) to that effect after Zahid gave him “a sour face” when he stated his disagreement to the move.

“It is supposed to be ‘no Anwar, no DAP’… but I am a living witness; there were SDs signed in support of Anwar to become the prime minister, and letters were sent to the palace,” he told the press conference in response to his removal as Umno Supreme Council member last week.

“I was urged to do so, but I did not want to. In the end, I signed as well because I was given a sour face.”

The recently appointed ambassador to Indonesia also said Zahid spoke to him four times to lend support to Anwar, before he (Tajuddin) finally agreed to sign the SD.

In March, at the Umno general assembly, Zahid said in his policy speech that Umno would never work with Anwar or DAP.

In October 2020, while Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was prime minister after the Sheraton Move that ousted Pakatan Harapan from Putrajaya, a letter to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong signed by Zahid and Pekan MP Najib Razak went viral on social media.

Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob succeeded Muhyiddin as prime minister last August after the latter lost majority support and had to resign. – June 28, 2022.