Is former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad fighting a losing battle in his crusade against his former protégé Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak?

Former information minister Zainuddin Maidin does not think so.

"I'm not sure whether he (Mahathir) is losing his battle, because what will determine (the outcome) is the next election," Zainuddin said when asked about the matter.

He said this when met by reporters after the launch of his book 'Saya Bukan Menteri: Memoir Wartawan Negara' at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival in Serdang today.

The people are very dissatisfied with Najib, he explained, even though the prime minister is presenting himself as a "near-success".

"I just asked a taxi driver, do the people accept him (Najib)? 'No, no, all the taxi drivers don't accept him," he recounted.

However, he also said if Umno and PAS were to join forces, the two would still stand a good chance of winning the next general election as they would be able to leverage on the combined Malay votes.

Mahathir has been a vocal critic of Najib and his brainchild 1MDB since last year.

The longest-serving former prime minister also quit Umno in protest of Najib's administration.

Along with opposition leaders and prominent activists, Mahathir is leading the Save Malaysia movement, which is urging Malaysians to sign the Citizens' Declaration calling for Najib's resignation and institutional reforms.

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