BERSATU president Muhyiddin Yassin revealed today he was the man behind the formation of the party and not former prime minister and party chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Muhyiddin said he made the decision to form Bersatu after he was sacked from Umno by then prime minister and Umno president Najib Razak after he started questioning the latter on the 1MDB scandal.

“The situation in the country was bad because of the kleptocracy issue, leaders were involved and had used money and so on. We knew the situation and the situation was quite bad.

“So, for that reason, I took the step, not Tun Mahathir, to form Bersatu.

“This was our struggle, something like jihad, and we could not be alone. We had to be with a group or have some political platform,” the Perikatan Nasional chairman said at a ceramah today in the run-up to the Malacca state elections.

Muhyiddin said Bersatu joined forces with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to have a formidable political coalition that could topple the then ruling Barisan Nasional government.

That eventually turned into reality when PH ousted BN in the 14th general elections in 2018.

After forming the government with PH, Muhyiddin claimed PH’s directions were not in line with the struggle of Malays, Islam and Malaysians.

He said he told Dr Mahathir that the people would dump Bersatu in the next elections if they continue being part of PH.

On being appointed as the eighth prime minister after a political turmoil, Muhyiddin said Dr Mahathir was aware of it as he claimed to have informed his intention to the latter.

Muhyiddin said he only put forward his name after Dr Mahathir had rejected the chance to stay in power after receiving the backing of more than 130 MPs, which included Umno and PAS.

“(Ahmad) Zahid Hamidi and Hadi Awang met Tun at his residence to affirm their backing but Tun refused to work with Umno.

“So, when I put my name forward for the PM’s post, Tun asked if I could garner enough support to which I said ‘Insyallah’,” Muhyiddin said.

Muhyiddin said Umno members who initially backed him in 2020 pulled their support that led to his resignation in August this year. – November 12, 2021.