Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali is ashamed that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is back on good terms with jailed de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

That is why Ibrahim did not join Mahathir's Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), said former information minister Zainuddin Maidin.

"Ibrahim told me that the reason why he could not be with Mahathir in Bersatu is not because they are friendly with DAP, but because Mahathir is now friends again with Anwar Ibrahim who wanted to overthrow him last time," Zainuddin said in a blog post today.

When Mahathir was in trouble and faced great difficulties in the Umno supreme council meeting held to sack Anwar, Ibrahim is known to have saved Mahathir, Zainuddin said.

Recounting his conversation with Ibrahim, he said Ibrahim had told him that he was ashamed.

Yesterday, Mahathir had said that he was ashamed to call Ibrahim his friend as he did not join Bersatu due to the party's ties with DAP.

He said Ibrahim thinks of DAP as 'jahat' (evil) but he should compare DAP to MCA to see who is truly evil.

Zainuddin said that MCA has always been a thorn in the flesh and a parasite to Umno.

Not only that, now DAP has also taken over MCA and MIC's role of being the representative to a majority of non-Malays, he said.

"Umno should follow the advice of the late deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman: If this cooperation cannot be respected, it is better to be divorced," he said.

Ibrahim had also announced that Perkasa would be fielding 50 independent candidates in the upcoming general election, a decision which prompted Mahathir to say that his former ally is now working with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Zainuddin, meanwhile, said that Ibrahim should no longer be nicknamed "frog" for changing political parties as there are many politicians now who change parties.

"A more accurate new title for him would be 'political eel'," he said.