Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad is now getting a taste of his own medicine from Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak after having previously claimed that admitting a mistake was a sign of weakness, said Umno veteran Musa Hitam.

Musa, who served as Mahathir’s No 2, in an interview with The Malaysian Insider recalled how the nonagenarian once told him that admitting a mistake would allow their opponents to exploit them and he had responded by arguing to the contrary.

“Dr Mahathir never admitted to his mistakes, and Najib is learning from Dr Mahathir rather than me.

“He (Mahathir) is getting a taste of his own medicine with what Najib is doing now,” Musa was quoted as saying.

Mahathir has since emerged to become Najib’s fiercest critic over the RM2.6 billion donation scandal and operations of state-investment arm 1MDB, leading the urgings from within Umno for his immediate resignation.

Musa, meanwhile, also noted that Najib had failed to provide a satisfactory response on the two issues and seemed to be looking for ways to evade the topics rather than come clean with the public.

Anticipation had built over Najib’s expected answer in the Dewan Rakyat last week but he had failed to show up, citing concerns of alleged sub judice, and instead tasked Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to read out a brief three-minute explanation.

At the same time, Musa cited the upcoming Umno general assembly next week as being the “perfect platform” for Najib to be completely transparent on those two issues.

“This is the chance for the president to really come clean. And I dare say that the president, if there are many issues that he might have discovered to be a mistake, (he should) just say ‘I’m sorry, it was a mistake’.

“It’s as simple as that, especially within the context of Malay tradition and our religious teaching. We are ordinary human beings, of course we will make mistakes,” Musa reportedly said.

‘No escape from addressing Umno’s turmoil’

Musa, who described the upcoming Umno AGM as being the most important and challenging in the party and country’s history, also said that the current leadership cannot avoid from addressing issues which has been raised, including the feud between Najib and Mahathir.

“In the run-up to this Umno general assembly, they say, ‘Oh, the 1MDB issue is not important, the issue of Muhyiddin (Yassin) being sacked is not important, the issue of Dr Mahathir attacking Najib is not important.’

“Well then, we are living in a make-believe world. Seriously. We are evading. And these are not the hallmarks of a party in power. Maybe, if this goes on, it is a party getting out of power. On the way out of power,” said Musa, as quoted by The Malaysian Insider .

Both Mahathir and Muhyiddin had said they would still be attending the Umno AGM, to be held from Dec 8 to 12.

The Umno supreme council is also scheduled to meet on Wednesday and decide on whether Muhyiddin would be allowed to deliver his winding-up speech as Umno deputy president.