Dr Mahathir Mohamad had deliberately allowed Umno to be declared illegal after he nearly lost the presidency to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in 1988, according to an Umno lawmaker.

Hasan Arifin claimed that Mahathir did this to avoid a re-election for the top post between him and Tengku Razaleigh.

In that pivotal election, the former prime minister retained his position after defeating Tengku Razaleigh on a razor-thin majority of 43 votes...