PETALING JAYA – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is denying Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi’s claims of “saving Umno”, which was the reason he stepped down as prime minister in 2020.

       The former premier said he stepped down because his party, Bersatu, had lost confidence in his leadership when they rejected his advice.

       “Usually, when followers no longer have faith in a leader, the honourable thing to do is to step down. That is what I did.

       “Ahmad Zahid need not claim that he was the hero who toppled me and saved Umno,” Dr Mahathir wrote in a Facebook post on Aug 12.

       On Aug 10, Datuk Seri Zahid claimed that he was the mastermind behind an effort to remove Dr Mahathir as prime minister, claiming he was forced to take the “extraordinary” measure to prevent Dr Mahathir from banning Umno.

       Dr Mahathir said that after Umno lost the 14th general election, Dr Zahid, who was president of the party at the time, came to see him.

       “He wanted to know what would happen to Umno after the loss. To me, Umno was no longer following the cause behind its formation, which was to fight for race, country and religion.

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       “The party using Umno’s name was fighting for money (cash is king). Since its cause was no longer the same, they lost the right to be known as Umno,” he said.

       Dr Mahathir said Dr Zahid did not agree with him and did not dissolve the party.

       He said in another meeting, Dr Zahid told him that he was innocent of the corruption allegations against him.

       “I told him I had no authority to free him and the ‘evidence’ he showed me should be produced to a judge in court,” he said. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK