This was what made the 92-year-old vengeful, to the point that he now had no qualms about throwing all his past principles “out the window”, added Nazri.
“(The late Abdul) Razak Hussein has got (prime minister) Najib. Hussein Onn has Hishammuddin, Pak Lah (Abdullah Badawi) has Khairy (Jamaluddin).
“He (Mahathir) saw his son Mukhriz go up and come down (Umno’s leadership ladder),” Nazri told a press conference here today.
Nazri also claimed Mahathir was angry at the fact that Mukhriz had been defeated by Khairy time and time again.
“Mahathir couldn’t stand Pak Lah,” he said, adding that by the time Mahathir left Umno, the “score” between Abdullah and him was 3-0 in favour of Pak Lah.
“When Mukhriz lost to Khairy (in the party’s 2008 election for Youth chief post), he got upset. Then after the 13th general election, Najib made Khairy a minister.”
He alleged that Mahathir had gone to see Najib to ask for the reason behind the prime minister’s decision.
“Najib said because Khairy is the Youth chief.
“Besides, his (Mahathir’s) son became a menteri besar. But now the score is Pak Lah 2, Mahathir 0.
“Then came party elections where his son contested for the vice-president post and lost. So that’s three (for Abdullah).
“And the final straw for Mahathir was when his son was dropped as the menteri besar, but there was no demonstration against it. It’s like everyone was happy about it.”
Nazri said hence, he understood and was not surprised by Mahathir’s agenda against the Najib-led government, although it had never been about the government itself.
“Mahathir is not senile. He’s just motivated by vengeance.”
Mukhriz, in an interview with The Malaysian Insight news portal in April, said if Mahathir wanted him to become the prime minister, Mahathir would have paved the way for him when he was leading the country.
But Mahathir didn’t and, in fact, had prohibited him and his siblings from assuming any government post, said Mukhriz. He also pointed out that he had made his political debut in 2004, a year after Mahathir stepped down.