Dr Mahathir Mohamad hides behind the excuse that his actions are for the good of Umno, but this is not the case, said Multimedia and Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

According to him, there is nothing that the former premier is doing which can be construed as being beneficial to Umno, namely working together with DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

“How can going into partnership with Lim, the man who dislikes Umno the most, and the rest of the opposition, be considered for the good of Umno?

“Is burning down the house an act of improving the house?” he asked in a blog posting.

Salleh claimed that the former premier is so deeply entrenched with DAP that he is now an enemy of Umno, the party which Mahathir led for more than two decades.

Furthermore, he said Mahathir never concealed his intention of wanting to punish Umno, similar to what transpired in 2008.

“Umno has to realise that Mahathir is working closely with Lim and DAP in the hope that BN will perform badly during the 14th general election.

“This is why Mahathir cannot accept the positive decision made by Public Accounts Committee regarding 1MDB and the explanation given by the Saudi Arabia government that the RM2.6 billion is indeed a donation.

“Mahathir will continue to search for whatever excuse to attack the prime minister,” he added.

Salleh also claimed that Mahathir appears to be confused about what his real motives are.

“... he says he opposes Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and wants him replaced because if not then Umno, and by extension BN, is going to lose the next general election.

“If Najib is detrimental to the party and, therefore, he should be replaced, whom does Mahathir propose as the replacement?

“This, Mahathir will not state and he even said that it should not be Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,” he added.

Salleh noted Najib’s remarks in an interview last week, where the prime minister said Mahathir is upset that his son Mukhriz failed to ascend the Umno hierarchy.