Umno veteran Sanusi Junid has denied former Umno deputy president Musa Hitam's allegation that he was part of a conspiracy to topple the latter in the 1980s.

Sanusi contended that Musa himself courted trouble by plotting against then party president Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Musa in his book 'Frankly Speaking' had named Sanusi, Anwar Ibrahim and Daim Zainuddin - collectively known as 'AIDS' - as being part of a conspiracy against him when he was deputy prime minister.

"It is good that Musa wrote 'Frankly Speaking'. At least, I get to evaluate his heart, mind and conscience. AIDS - or Anwar, Daim and myself - never existed as a team, pact or what was referred to (by Musa) as conspirators," Sanusi told Malaysiakini.

"Musa's downfall was because of his own attitude and actions. He is not that great that it would require a conspiracy to plan his fall.

"I never reported negatively about him to Mahathir, what more conspired to topple him," he added.

Sanusi contended that he did not know Musa well.

He said that he was closer to Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as they were professionally acquainted in the banking circles.

The Umno veteran conceded that had been part of the anti-Musa movement in 1985 at Mahathir's request, but he claimed this happened only after Musa made his moves against the then Umno president.

Sanusi also clarified that Mahathir was dubbed ‘Tok Bomoh’ in jest as he is a doctor who no longer practises, and not for sinister reasons.

He said that when he was in the cabinet, he had neither the time nor inclination to socialise with his fellow ministers outside of official business, let alone hatch conspiracies.

"I never even knew where they lived, (and) when I retired, (only) then I realised that some of them lived near my house," he said, though he clarified that he had close ties with former ministers Kadir Yusof and Ghazali Shafie as he once served as their deputy.

Sanusi said instead of him spreading tales about Musa, he had heard that it was Musa who was making noises of discontent against Mahathir circa 1985-87.

He claimed he was not exactly on good terms with Mahathir himself due to earlier disagreements, adding he was actually "Tun Razak's man".

Sanusi revealed he had become persona non grata when he orchestrated Mahathir's dismissal as the head of the Wisma Belia Trustee Board at the 1973 Malaysian Association of Youth Clubs emergency annual general meeting (AGM).

Mahathir even opposed him when he was proposed as the candidate for Jerai in 1974, added Sanusi.

However, he admitted that after mending ties with Mahathir, he respected the man for his ability and character, which, by his estimation, far surpasses Musa's.

'Friends in Home Ministry'

Sanusi conceded that he was brought in by Mahathir to counter Musa's tactics, after discontent grew between the duo in the late 1980s.

"But my mates in defending Mahathir were neither Anwar nor Daim. My team mates were the late former minister, Megat Junid Megat Ayub, and Kip Bahadun, who was Umno works secretary," he said.

Based on intelligence gathered by “friends in the Home Ministry”, Sanusi said he discovered that Musa was earlier plotting against Razaleigh after the Kelantan prince was reinstated in the cabinet despite losing the race for Umno deputy president.

Musa had defeated Razaleigh in the race at the Umno elections in 1984.

Apparently, Musa was also reportedly wary of then rising star Anwar, who was brought in by Mahathir in 1981, said Sanusi.

Sanusi related that Musa and his accomplices had plotted to engineer an emergency Umno AGM to have himself reinstated as both DPM and Umno deputy president after his 1986 resignation, and to throw a spanner into the works for Mahathir.

But Mahathir found out about this and, according to Sanusi, worked behind the scenes to thwart the move.

This resulted in only three supreme council members voting in favour of the emergency AGM, to Musa and his allies' astonishment, said Sanusi.

Sanusi claimed that Mahathir was at first in favour of having Musa back as his deputy, while waiting for Musa and Razaleigh to contest the Umno deputy president's post in the 1987 party polls.

However, Mahathir was wary when news surfaced that Musa might use his position in the Umno disciplinary board against his enemies, said Sanusi, and he subsequently appointed the late Ghafar Baba as interim deputy.

According to Sanusi, in the following 1987 party polls, Musa instigated Razaleigh - who he was supposed to face off against for deputy president - to run against Mahathir for president instead.

This sparked off the chain of events that led to an Umno civil war which saw Mahathir and his running mate Ghafar barely scraping a win, and the party's subsequent de-registration following a legal dispute.

"It’s only through a twist of fate that the Razaleigh-Musa duo was defeated. I will write a longer explanation at another time," said Sanusi.