Dr Mahathir Mohamad will face a hard time setting up his new party, the former prime minister’s old rival Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said today.

Tengku Razaleigh, who himself set up an Umno splinter party when Mahathir was prime minister, said the government machinery would work against Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

"It is possible that, with his influence, Mahathir can woo supporters. But we know the government will use all it has to stop people from supporting the opposition," Tengku Razaleigh said when met by reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

He said other factors, such as the fact that Umno is still standing, and the relegation of non-Malays to associate member position, would also be hindrances to a smooth start for the new party.

"We had an easier time forming Semangat 46 as Umno was split from top to bottom, so we could set up party divisions from those who couldn't get into (Mahathir's) Umno Baru," he said, referring to the Umno split in 1988.

Mahathir had followed in Tengku Razaleigh's footsteps to set up a new party after his main ally against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Muhyiddin Yassin, was sacked from Umno.

Observers say the new party's main target is to woo disenfranchised Umno members, who don't like the existing opposition parties, but want to fight against Najib.

Mahathir and his team have accused Najib of mass corruption, while the prime minister accused them of making baseless allegations in an effort to topple him from office.

Tengku Razaleigh said he has not been approached to join the new party, since Mahathir's team knows he is "an Umno man".
Meanwhile on the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) allegations of funds being misappropriated from 1MDB, the Gua Musang MP said the government should investigate all allegations of wrongdoing in 1MDB thoroughly.

"I think the government should be looking into all aspects of what the scandal behind 1MDB is, so that you can get to the truth and those who have committed wrongs can be brought to justice."

He said this when asked whether the government should identify and take action against the individual dubbed as ‘Malaysian Official 1’ (MO1).

The DOJ document states that of more than US$3.5 billion misappropriated from 1MDB, US$731 million allegedly went into the accounts of MO1.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan has said that only an idiot doesn't know who MO1 is.

Critics have said that MO1 is none other than Najib himself.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing or allegations of abusing public funds, while attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal.