Those who follow Dr Mahathir Mohamad are doomed because the former premier is a kaki gaduh or serial battler, said Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.

In his assessment of the medical doctor-turned-politician, he recalled the history of feuds involving the latter.

"Once I was a good friend of Anwar Ibrahim. He was my (Umno)Youth chief and I was his strong supporter. But then Mahathir fought with him (when Anwar was deputy premier).

"When this happened, we held on to Mahathir and the party was safe.

"After that he did it to Pak Lah (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi). I didn't care about him (Mahathir), and took care of Pak Lah," he said in an interview with Malaysiakini and FMT .

Nazri said Mahathir is now on the warpath against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, whom he has accused of numerous misdeeds.

He pointed out that Mahathir also squabbled with first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman and former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

"Luckily, (second prime minister and Najib's father) Abdul Razak (Hussein) died early, or he would have fought with him as well.

"He (Mahathir) is a kaki gaduh (serial troublemaker). If we follow him, we're dead," he stressed.

Nazri said those in Umno have become used to this and therefore, the emphasis is on the party and to prevent it from crumbling.

As for Mahathir's intention to participate in the March 27 gathering, Nazri attributed this to personal embarrassment and vengeance.

He said Mahathir wanted to stoke the people's anger after nobody had come forward to protest his son Mukhriz's removal from his post as Kedah menteri besar last month.

"You have to remember that Mahathir is a vengeful person. He was embarrassed when his son lost the menteri besar post after less than one term. That is a big shame for his family and nobody wanted to demonstrate.

"So he (is joining) the (March 27) demonstration to seek revenge against Najib. To me, he just wants to make people angry," he added.

Nazri said during Mahathir's tenure as prime minister, the latter had opposed such protests.

"When he was prime minister, he never allowed such protests. But now he sees he made a big mistake.

"I have said it before, he can't do anything now. Even if he throws stones at a glass, the glass would not break," he added.

However, the Padang Rengas MP said Mahathir is free to attend the meeting but reminded him not to break the law.

Nazri also predicted that the gathering, mooted by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim, would not be successful.

The prime minister has denied Mahathir's allegations and accused his former mentor of plotting his downfall.