Mahathir said the group, led by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, had instead sought his advice as they wanted to leave Umno.
“No, they didn’t (ask me to spare Umno). They were going to leave Umno and they wanted my advice.
“So, that’s all. Nothing else,” he told reporters after a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Islamic Arts Museum, as well as the launch of the Scholar’s Library.
Mahathir, who is also Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, was asked to comment on a meeting which had taken place between him and several Umno leaders recently.
This comes in the wake of a picture, which had gone viral yesterday, showing Mahathir with senior Umno leaders and former ministers, including Mohamad, former party secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Larut MP Hamzah Zainuddin, Arau MP Shahidan Kassim and Tanjung Karang MP Noh Omar.
Also seen in the photo is Yahya Jalil, the owner of Gerbang Perdana Sdn Bhd, the company contracted to build the infamous RM1.1 billion “crooked bridge”, proposed by Mahathir in Johor’s waters, which was axed in 2006.
Mohamad, the former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, was reported as saying that the meeting in October was only to get clarification about the prime minister’s statement in New York threatening to “disband Umno”.
PPBM Supreme Council member A Kadir Jasin, who previously said up to 40 Umno MPs would soon leave the party, confirmed that the meeting with these Umno leaders took place last October.
‘Kit Siang gives nod for PPBM to accept Umno MPs’
To a question on DAP appearing to be unhappy about PPBM’s approach in absorbing Umno MPs, Mahathir said DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang had agreed for them to enter PPBM.
The PPBM chairman said there were those in his party, not just PKR and DAP, who were not happy with former Umno members joining them and stated these were their personal views.
“There are good and bad Umno members. We will not accept the bad Umno members. The good ones, of course, we can take them in.
“I myself am a former Umno man. They accepted me. Kit Siang accepted me.
“It is not about being Umno members, but what we have done. If you have done something wrong, of course, you will be rejected,” he said.
On whether PPBM will accept the six Umno MPs who left the party today, Mahathir said their entry into PPBM is subject to conditions.
“They must leave their former party and become independents first. They must support the government and after that we will make individual assessments.”
On claims that the acceptance of former Umno members into PPBM could be considered a betrayal of the people’s trust, Mahathir said:
“I am a former Umno member. I was from the party. These ex-Umno men, of course they must be free from all crimes,” he added.