Speaking at a “Mencari Kebenaran Selamatkan Malaysia” ceramah in Taman Putra Perdana last night, Muhyiddin reiterated that the main aim of the Citizens’ Declaration was to push for Najib’s resignation and not change or topple the government of the day.
“If Najib resigns, then the Umno Supreme Council can make a decision as to who replaces him as prime minister and Umno president.
“There are people who say I should replace Najib, I don’t mind. If it is Zahid, I also don’t mind. Whoever it is, I wouldn’t mind.”
Muhyiddin doubted however whether this change in leadership was enough to convince the people that it was Barisan Nasional that they should continue supporting.
At the ceramah, Muhyiddin also related how former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had urged him back in 2008 to challenge then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after the General Election.
Muhyiddin, who is also MP for Pagoh, said that Mahathir felt at the time that Najib, who was then Abdullah’s deputy, was too “soft” to challenge Abdullah for the country’s number one post.
“When Mahathir called me, he was waiting for Najib’s answer on taking over from Abdullah and challenging the latter for the Umno presidency.
“Mahathir told me if Najib did not make a decision, could I challenge Abdullah for the Umno presidency. I told Mahathir to wait as I wanted to speak to Najib once more,” he said, explaining that the move was necessary because Umno was almost paralysed under Abdullah’s administration and that he had suggested to Najib to replace Abdullah so that the party could win back the support of the people.
“I had discussions and exchanged views with Najib as to what the future would be after the 2008 General Election and Najib told me it did not look good.”
Muhyiddin said he was sure then that if Abdullah had stayed on as prime minister, BN would not have won the 2013 General Election, not only because of the issues surrounding Abdullah, but also because of his leadership.
He added that he did not make this plea for his own personal gain as at that point, he harboured no ambition of becoming DPM, and only wanted to save Umno and BN from total ruin.