KUALA LUMPUR – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has once again denied the claim by Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the former two-time prime minister sought to ban the Barisan Nasional (BN) linchpin.
In a statement released by his office today, Mahathir reiterated that he had never attempted to disband the party, refuting Zahid’s allegation made earlier this month during a Cameron Highlands Umno event in Lipis.
“If Dr Mahathir intended to ban Umno, as prime minister, he could have ordered the Home Minister to do so immediately. However, during the two years when Dr Mahathir was prime minister (following the 2018 general election), Umno was still around,” the statement read.
It added that Dr Mahathir had asked Zahid to dissolve Umno as the party had lost the 14th general election (GE14), which saw the party assuming the role of the federal opposition for the first time in its history while Dr Mahathir was sworn in as prime minister again.
Umno, the statement said, also no longer represented the Malay people while its corruption-linked leaders had abandoned the party’s original struggles for race, religion and country.
“The proposed dissolution rested on Zahid and Umno leaders’ shoulders if they realised that the party had deviated from its struggles and did not deserve to use the Umno name.
“Zahid was also later charged in court for 47 charges related to corruption.”
The statement stressed that Umno’s continued existence now is proof that the party was never banned.
On August 12, Dr Mahathir, a former Umno leader himself, had taken to social media to clarify that he had stepped down as prime minister in 2020 because his then-party Bersatu had lost confidence in his leadership, as evidenced when its members rejected his advice.
This came after Zahid alleged he was the mastermind behind an effort to remove Dr Mahathir as prime minister, claiming that he was forced to take such measures in order to prevent the nonagenarian from banning Umno. – August 21, 2024