September 7, 2022
PETALING JAYA – The imprisonment of Datuk Seri Najib Razak does not cleanse Umno which has gone astray, claims Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“The imprisonment of Najib does not cleanse Umno.
“The culture of Umno is not the culture of the party when it was set up.
“This is no more Umno any longer,” the former prime minister said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Sept 6).
As such, Dr Mahathir, who was former Umno president, said that the party must be defeated and replaced by a Malay party which holds fast to the principles of championing race, nation and religion.
Dr Mahathir, 97, expressed his dismay at how Umno leaders and its members had rallied behind Najib despite the lengthy court proceedings in which the Federal Court found him guilty of his crimes.
Dr Mahathir said he was saddened at the party’s current state of affairs.
“But I have to accept the truth.
“My previous party has been destroyed owing to the belief that ‘cash is king’,” he said.
Dr Mahathir was appointed as prime minister for the second time in 2018 to lead the Pakatan Harapan administration after leaving Umno in 2016.
He subsequently quit Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in February 2020, a party which he founded, to set up Parti Pejuang Tanah Air in August the same year.
On Aug 4 this year, Dr Mahathir announced the setting up of Gabungan Tanah Air (GTA), a coalition representing those from the field of economy, professionals, academicians and activists.