MUKHRIZ Mahathir said it’s heartbreaking to see Muhyiddin Yassin forgo his principles to join forces with Umno leaders whom he once slammed for being corrupt.

Muhyiddin seems to have changed his stand after seizing the chance to become the prime minister, said the Kedah menteri besar.

“I believed Muhyiddin, the old Muhyiddin… but he seems to have changed when faced with the PM post, it’s just a means to an end,” Mukhriz was quoted as saying in Malaysiakini to a crowd of supporters in Kedah.

“To become PM, he toppled our chairman, and our PM, he plotted the downfall of the PM from our own party Bersatu, not (PKR leader) Anwar Ibrahim.

“This is really heartbreaking,” he said.

Mukhriz, who is also Bersatu deputy president, said he felt betrayed by such actions of an old friend.

“We are speechless. Due to this, I lost many friends. I don’t know what to say,” Mukhriz said.

Muhyiddin, the Bersatu president, was sworn in as the prime minister on Sunday, with support from Umno and PAS.

Earlier in the week, he took Bersatu out of Pakatan Harapan, resulting in the fall of the 20-month ruling pact.

Bersatu itself is facing turmoil with some section of leaders continuing to back its founder and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Divisions in the party in Kedah have also left Mukhriz’s position as menteri besar in a balance. – March 5, 2020.