THE attacks against Dr Mahathir Mohamad continued far into the night, with Umno vice-president Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi telling the former prime minister his era was over.

“Don’t bother with the problems posed by others out there,” Zahid told Umno Merbok at the division’s AGM in Sungai Petani, Kedah, yesterday night.

“The opposition will always be the opposition. More so, if the opposition party is one that originated from Umno.

“His era is over. Sit down, keep quiet and meditate more,” the deputy prime minister said in a veiled reference to Dr Mahathir, to muted applause.

Zahid said patience had its limits.

“If he (Dr Mahathir) continues to criticise us, the PM and the party, we have to fight back. We have patience. But if he pushes us against the wall, we have to turn around and fight back.

“If he hits us 10 times, we must strike back at least once.”

Earlier in Jerlun yesterday, Zahid said he had proof that Dr Mahathir wanted to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He repeated the claim that he had a recording of a 2015 conversation he had with Dr Mahathir.

“My conversation with the former leader was recorded and the tape is still with me. At the time, I was just into my 10th day as deputy prime minister. Does it make sense that I would want to topple Najib when I had just been appointed DPM?” he said at the opening of the Jerlun Umno AGM.

The Zahid-Dr Mahathir spat began with Zahid striking the first blow by taking a dig at the 92-year-old’s Indian heritage.

“Dr Mahathir has likely forgotten this fact – that he is the son of Iskandar Kutty,” Zahid said.

“On his blue IC, his name is listed as Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty. This was sent to me by the National Registration Department director.

“No wonder he easily forgot this, as he is the son of Iskandar Kutty,” the Umno number two told the Kelana Jaya Umno annual general assembly.

Dr Mahathir returned the salvo by claiming that Zahid had suggested ousting Najib in 2015.

The former prime minister also alleged there was RM230 million in Zahid’s account when he was Umno Youth chief.

Zahid has yet to respond to the allegations.

Meanwhile, Zahid told Umno Merbok to hold on to the Merbok parliamentary and Tanjung Dawai state seats and reclaim the Bukit Selambau state seat if they wished to enjoy rewards.

“I have heard requests for allocations for a hostel, canteen and water pipe upgrade here. I promise to return in six months with gifts if you can retain Merbok and Tanjung Dawai and take back Bukit Selambau.”

Merbok is currently held by Umno’s Prof Dr Ismail Daut, Tanjung Dawai by Merbok division chief Tajul Urus Md Zain, and Bukit Selambau by PKR’s R Krishnamoorthy.

“In GE11, we made a clean sweep of all three but in GE12, we lost all three seats and the state of Kedah along with that.  Don’t let it happen again,” Zahid warned. – August 5, 2017.