An Umno Youth leader believes Dr Mahathir Mohamad is considering becoming prime minister again in order to safeguard the political career of his son, Mukhriz.

“To me, the statement by Mahathir is more towards saving the political future of his 'golden' son.

“Mahathir has planned his political strategies to ensure the continuation of political power for his son,” said Umno Youth exco member Armand Azha Abu Hanifah.

Armand also claimed that Mahathir's movement is geared towards personal political interests, as opposed to the interests of the people.

“The people have been frightened with the cries of 'Save Malaysia' when it should have been 'Save Mukhriz',” he told Umno Online.

In a live Facebook session last week, Mahathir said he might be forced to consider becoming prime minister again, if this was what Pakatan Harapan wanted.

The 92-year-old former prime minister is now chairperson of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) while Mukhriz is the deputy president.

Mahathir was prime minister from 1981 to 2003.

Armand also went on to recall that Mahathir was faced with calls to resign during his 22 years in power.

“There were numerous scandals and hot issues during his time. So, don't think the people have forgotten this. He was fortunate that there was no social media during his era,” he said.

Armand also claimed that Mahathir's intention of becoming prime minister again proved the existence of a power struggle in the opposition coalition.

He noted that while PKR wanted its jailed de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister, there are calls from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) for its president Mohammad Sabu to helm the nation, with Bersatu shifting from its president Muhyiddin Yassin to Mukhriz, and now Mahathir himself, for the post.

“As always, DAP takes the approach of supporting all quarters, because its main agenda is that whoever becomes prime minister under Harapan must adhere to all of DAP's agendas,” he said.

Armand also predicted fireworks in the opposition camp with regard to seat allocations for the coming general election.

In a related development, Cheras Umno division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee said the opposition might name Mahathir as its prime minister candidate as a political gimmick.

By doing so, he claimed, the opposition hopes the people would be sympathetic towards its struggle.

“The people are able to read this gimmick. This is also a form of political abuse of Mahathir by the opposition,” Syed Ali said in a blog posting.