FORMER prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he had only worked with the DAP in the 2018 general election (GE14) to get majority votes and achieve his goal of removing Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Yes, I used DAP, but the fact is they also used me since they had the similar goal of bringing down Najib as the then prime minister.
“The enemy of your enemy is your friend, and that was the situation,” he said on the Keluar Sekejap podcast, hosted by former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.
Dr Mahathir also said that, unlike what many thought, he was prepared to hand over the prime minister position to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“I would have kept my word. I would have handed him the position as promised if things were not interrupted by the Sheraton Move.
“Datuk Seri Mohd Azmin Ali and his men had something else on their mind and even if I handed over the position to Anwar, there would not have been enough support,” he said.
Speaking about the time he and Anwar were in Umno together, Dr Mahathir said he had brought him (Anwar) into Umno, as the latter had strong religious knowledge.
“I was hoping Anwar could use his knowledge to benefit Umno and make the party be seen as one that holds strongly to religion.
“However, certain things he promised were not addressed, and he went against his promises,” added Dr Mahathir.
Meanwhile, Khairy, the former Umno Youth chief who had regularly clashed with Dr Mahathir, said he is in the “healing process” with the statesman.
Khairy was a former aide to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he was the prime minister from 2004 to 2009.
“My friction with Dr Mahathir back then was merely on matters of administration and differences of opinion over certain policies,” he added. – The Vibes, November 13, 2023
