DR Mahathir Mohamad is among those to be blamed for Umno’s fall from glory as the former prime minister took every opportunity to discredit the party, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said.

The Umno veteran said Mahathir, who is former Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, used the coalition to tarnish the reputation of then prime minister Najib Razak and Umno, the backbone of Barisan Nasional (BN).

“In the (2018) general election (GE), the PH coalition was led by Mahathir, who led the anti-corruption struggle to bring down Najib and BN.

“Mahathir really moved to bring down BN, especially Najib, who was accused of various things,” Tengku Razaleigh, popularly known as Ku Li, told The Malaysian Insight.

Support for Umno has been declining since 2008, with the once-dominant pact only winning 27 seats in the GE last year, making it the party’s worst-ever polls outing since its inception.

In the August 12 state elections, there was no change in fortune for BN, the oldest coalition in the country, as Umno, the only party that stood as both MIC and MCA sat out the polls, won only 19 seats out of the 108 it contested in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

Tengku Razaleigh, the country’s longest-serving lawmaker, said the 1Malaysia Development Bhd saga was used to bury the party.

He said Mahathir used DAP – Umno’s long-time enemy – to bring down the Malay pact, and that Mahathir was only focused on winning votes.

“Mahathir took advantage of DAP, which used to be his enemy when he was in Umno/BN, in this movement (to cause the fall of Umno),” he said.

“(DAP) also tried to use Mahathir’s influence to split the vote for BN.

The 2018 GE saw the fall of BN, which had held federal power for six decades. Umno won 54 seats in that GE.

Tengku Razaleigh said Mahathir had “incredible” support, even from Umno members, when he was leading PH to defeat Najib.

The ex-Gua Musang lawmaker said Umno at present is not being entirely rejected by voters, and believes the party can bounce back in the next GE.

“PAS only managed to win one parliamentary seat (in the past) and had no control of any states, but it rose to prominence.

“The situation (with Umno) will be similar because of the dynamic nature of politics,” he said. – August 21, 2023.