“The party has brought much development to the country,” he said.
The past leaders, he added, could not be said to have disappointed the people. “As expected, they served the nation, and it progressed to a point where the people were better off than before independence.”
The previous prime ministers, said Mahathir, did not cause the people much problems when they were found wanting. “When the time came for them to go, they went.”
“There were no riots to bring down the prime minister.”
He cited former prime minister Abdullah Badawi as an example. Badawi stepped down not long after he turned in the worst ever, till then, electoral performance in 2008, losing the coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time since independence. “Badawi knew that the people no longer supported him. So, he stepped down.”
“Najib, who replaced him, was also instrumental in persuading his predecessor to step down.”
It’s a different picture altogether now, he lamented in his latest blog posting. “Umno is on the verge of destruction, having become the worst party in the country.”
“Party leaders, MPs and divisional chiefs in particular, are in cahoots with Prime Minister and Umno President Najib Abdul Razak — on wrongdoing — to destroy the party. Najib’s involvement in scandals is clear.”
Mahathir charged that Umno leaders had left the impression that they no longer cared what their children and grandchildren would think of them or their own future in politics. “There’s no escaping the verdict, for what they have done, whether in this world or the hereafter.”
Briefly, said Mahathir who was prime minister for 22 years and stepped down voluntarily, “the whole world knows that Najib has abused much of the funds which 1MDB had raised and that the country has degenerated into being the most corrupt in the world”.
In revisiting 1MDB, Mahathir was at a loss to fathom why Umno leaders remained deaf and blind to Najib’s involvement in “wrongdoing”. “Amazingly, they continue to defend him.”
“They appear to be completely shameless and oblivious to the fact that Najib remains despised by the whole world for the wrongdoing that he has allegedly committed.”
Mahathir does not rule out Umno leaders pursuing a self-serving agenda, placing self-interest above all, and not being in the least concerned about the dignity of the nation and the national interest.
The former prime minister pointed out that the people continued to gather everywhere to demand that Najib step down as prime minister or be expelled. “Umno members themselves know that their party will face certain defeat in the 14th General Election in 2018 if Najib continues to lead it and the Barisan Nasional (BN).”
“Only the deaf, dumb and blind will not see this,” Mahathir added.