KUALA LUMPUR April 1 (FMT): Pejuang chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin met him recently to ask for his help to regain the prime minister’s post.
“Tan Sri Muhyiddin saw me, he wanted me to support him for his attempt to become the prime minister once again,” Mahathir said at a press conference here today.
Asked whether he would support Muhyiddin, he said Pejuang “is not going to support somebody who as the prime minister was as much a failure as Najib (Razak) was”.
This comes amid reports that Muhyiddin met with Mahathir to propose Bersatu and Pejuang work together ahead of the next general election (GE15).
“When (Muhyiddin) was prime minister, most people were not happy with his leadership,” Mahathir said.
“He was not a good prime minister. If he had achieved great things for Malaysia, he would be able to become prime minister again without our support.”
The Langkawi MP said he was equally bemused by Muhyiddin approaching him for Pejuang’s support since he knew Pejuang had performed badly in the recent Johor elections.
“We are not strong, and we know we don’t have much money, but he asked us to support him,” he said.
He reiterated that Pejuang will only work with parties who were committed to combating corruption.
“These parties must make a clear declaration that they do not approve of corruption and that they don’t contest in elections by giving money to people,” he said.
Asked to comment on DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang’s retirement from politics, Mahathir maintained that he (Mahathir) might not be contesting in GE15 but was not leaving Pejuang just yet.
“I cannot make a decision now because I have to abide by the decision of my party. I cannot decide on my own. So, that’s something we’ll decide later on,” he said.
