UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has accused Dr Mahathir Mohamad of treating the party like a hotel, in reference to the times the former prime minster had left the party, only to return some years later.

Speaking at the Kepala Batas Umno division started its delegates’ annual general meeting this morning in Penang, Khairy said  party members were taught to put party interests before self.

“When we join Umno we are taught that the party’s struggle is more important than the individual’s interests.” 

Dr Mahathir first left Umno in the aftermath of the 1969 race riots, when he penned a letter criticising the leadership of first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman but was readmitted into the party in 1972 by Razak Hussein.

He first quit the party in 2008, a culmination of his frustration with his successor Abdullah Badawi. Dr Mahathir rejoined Umno in 2009, when Abdullah stepped down in favour of Prime Minister Najib Razak, only to fall out with Najib and quit the party for the second time in 2016.

“We see how a leader who led the party for over 20 years treating Umno like a rumah sewa, a hotel. He can come and go as he pleases,” Khairy said.

“Umno is not a hotel. It is a sacred party for the Malays.”

Khairy, who is Abdullah son-in-law, sang the praises of the former prime minister in his former stronghold, calling him  a “respected stateman”.

“We know that Abdullah lost in Umno politics once, but he worked hard, and sincerely, until he became the party president. That inner strength made him a great leader, although he faces all sorts of abuse and attacks. 

“Today, he remains a respected statesman. Wherever I go, people asked after him. Everyone I have met in Umno and other parties say he is the best statesman we have today.”

Abdullah, who is fondly known as Pak Lah, was Kepala Batas MP from 1978 to 2013, and succeeded Dr Mahathir as prime minister in 2003 before stepping down in 2009.

Khairy said he once asked Abdullah why he did not leave Umno to join Semangat 46 that was formed in 1988 by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s “Team B” faction in Umno, which had the previoius challenged Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister and party president then.

Abdullah was a supporter of former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam, who supported Team B, and as a result, was sacked as defence minister.

“He chose to stay in Umno. He told me Umno was everything to him, and in his heart. To him, what was important was the interest of the Malays.

“Pak Lah’s loyalty is not blind. It comes from the values of the struggle, as what he had seen from his own forefathers, who were the founding members of Umno.”

Khairy said he wanted to bring up Abdullah’s actions to make a comparison with other leaders who only thought of their interests, without caring what would happen to Umno or the Malays.

Meanwhile, Kepala Batas Umno division chief Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the division would reject anything that had to do with Dr Mahathir.

He said Dr Mahathir was a man with the highest degree of hypocrisy, and accused him of splitting the Malays.

“Never before have Malays been at each others’ throats like today. Whose work is that?” he said, as delegates shouted Dr Mahathir’s name.

When Reezal, who is deputy foreign minister, said Dr Mahathir was a traitor, the delegates loudly voiced their agreement.

He reminded delegates what Dr Mahathir had done to Anwar, whom the latter sacked in 1998, and how both men were now working together in Pakatan Harapan.

“Today, he says Anwar should be freed. Is that a betrayal or not?” he said, adding that the PH coalition was full of contradictions.

“Its de facto leader and president are both victims of the chairman,” he said, referring to Anwar, who is PH de facto leader, and his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is president.

Reezal also accused Dr Mahathir of trying to erase the legacies of other leaders, like second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein and Abdullah, his immediate successor.

“He himself failed to realised the New Economic Plan mooted by Razak, just to chase after skyscrapers, international airports? That is why I think he has the highest degree of hypocrisy.” – July 23, 2017.