MUHYIDDIN Yassin was set on taking Bersatu out of Pakatan Harapan despite Dr Mahathir Mohamad having reservations about the move, said the former prime minister today.

Dr Mahathir, in a Facebook video, said party president Muhyiddin and leaders from Umno, PAS, Parti Warisan Sabah, PKR and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) met at his house on February 23 after a Bersatu supreme council meeting that morning.

“After the leaders met at my house, they went to Istana Negara to see the king.

“But I didn’t go as I wanted to think about the decision by the Bersatu supreme council.”

Although Muhyiddin, at the party meeting, agreed to give him another week to decide, said the 94-year-old, the group had already planned to leave PH.

Dr Mahathir’s comments come after a series of photos of the meeting at his house went viral on social media.

Among those in the photos are Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS’ Abdul Hadi Awang, Warisan’s Mohd Shafie Apdal, GPS’ Abang Johari Openg and former PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali.

“The meeting was arranged so that we could all go see the king at Istana Negara after it was suggested that Bersatu quit PH,” said Dr Mahathir.

“But at the Bersatu supreme council meeting, I had asked for more time to consider it, as it was a serious matter. In the end, the supreme council agreed to give me more time, and Muhyiddin even gave me a week to decide.

“But they had already planned for Bersatu to leave PH anyway.”

The photos have triggered speculation about the motives behind the meeting at Dr Mahathir’s residence, including that Zahid was trying to leverage his party’s numbers in Parliament to get Putrajaya to dump his court cases.

Zahid has said he and the other party presidents brought with them statutory declarations in support of Dr Mahathir as prime minister, denying that he produced court documents related to his cases.

Umno had backed a proposal for Dr Mahathir to remain as prime minister of a government that did not include DAP, Amanah and MPs loyal to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, he said.

“A picture that has been circulating on social media (shows) a meeting of party presidents to propose that (Dr Mahathir) create a unity government without DAP, PKR (Anwar’s faction) and Amanah,” he said in a statement on Facebook.

“That was the meeting point to start discussions. However, support was withdrawn when (Dr Mahathir) later proposed a unity government consisting of all parties, which violated the previous agreement.”

The day after the meeting, Azmin and Muhyiddin took their factions out of PH, and joined forces with Umno, PAS, and a clutch of Sabah and Sarawak parties to form Perikatan Nasional.

After Dr Mahathir rejected PN’s offer to helm the new administration, it chose Muhyiddin as prime minister.

Today, Dr Mahathir and four other MPs who have had their memberships “stopped” by Bersatu are aligned with PH and Warisan in the opposition. – June 2, 2020.