malaysia

DAP, Umno leaders set aside rivalry to save country, says Dr Mahathir

March 09, 2016
Latest Update: March 10, 2016 07:02 am

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the cooperation among Umno and DAP leaders is possible as they wish to save the country. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, March 9, 2016.The DAP and Umno leaders who signed the Citizens’ Declaration were able to set aside their political rivalry because they wished to save the country, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir said the cooperation was temporary and they could resume their “differences” once the demands in the declaration, which included Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's resignation, were fulfilled.

“They (the signatories) needed to act as citizens and not as a party or organisation. It was this awareness that caused them to put their enmity behind them temporarily to save their beloved country.

“Putting their parties first would mean supporting and maintaining Najib's regime.

“Once democracy and freedom are restored, the differences in opinion between them can resume once more,” wrote the former prime minister on his blog today.

Dr Mahathir conceded that many Umno members felt uneasy at the sight of their leaders sitting alongside their DAP counterparts, including veteran politician Lim Kit Siang, during the press conference last Friday.

But he said they had no other alternative as Najib had destroyed any chance of them resolving their concerns internally.

“The members’ rights in Umno, the Umno general assembly and the Umno Supreme Council are no longer functioning.

“Najib has clamped down on Umno members and organisations through a multitude of means, by paralysing not just party organs but government institutions such as the police, attorney-general, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Accounts Committee and more.”

He said Najib's actions had also affected ordinary Malaysians, whom he said now believed the country's democracy could only be restored by ousting the prime minister.

But they had no way of voicing their views, said Dr Mahathir, and this was what ultimately prompted the leaders to turn their backs against their organisation and struggle, and sign the declaration.

On Friday, Dr Mahathir signed a 37-point declaration calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

More than 40 people, including former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Lim as well as civil society movement leaders signed the declaration. – March 9, 2016.