UMNO has resorted to playing up race and religious issues to survive, and in the process has allowed PAS to dominate it, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Umno has become PAS. They are totally dominated by PAS. They are listening to PAS.

“It is not the Umno that I knew. It is not the Umno that was founded in 1946,” he said in an interview published in the New Straits Times today.

He said current Umno leaders have moved away from the true course of Umno and only wanted to “perpetuate their positions”.

He said it was an issue of survival for Umno and PAS, and they have resorted to playing up race and religious issues.

 In recent months, Umno and PAS have formed an alliance to take on the ruling Pakatan Harapan pact, especially to woo Malay voters.

The partnership has seen Barisan Nasional win the last two by-elections in Cameron Highlands and Semenyih.

They are working together again to face PH in the Rantau polls on April 13, which is contested by Umno acting president Mohamad Hasan.

The two parties also joined hands to oppose the government’s decision to ratify International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination last year.

More recently, they had backed the Johor palace in objecting to Putrajaya’s decision to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Their objection is on the grounds that both international treaties, will erode Malay rights, affect the position of Islam and undermine Malay rulers.

Following these objections, Dr Mahathir’s government scuppered plans to accede to the treaties.

In the interview Dr Mahathir also admitted that much was needed to be done to safeguard the interests of the Malays.

“While we do not want to play the racial issue, we must ensure that no race is left behind.

“And we know, at this moment, the Malays in particular, are very far behind. We need to make corrections and that is why we say it’s not just about equality, it is also about fairness.

“We have to be fair,” he said

“Unfortunately, I believe that if you don’t look into the interests of Bumiputeras, they will lose out.

The disparity between Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras will grow much bigger, and when that happens, there’s bound to be tension and the opposition party will play it up,” he added. – April 8, 2019.