INTERVIEW | Dr Mahathir Mohamad has consistently pinned the blame on Najib Abdul Razak for allegedly bringing about a kleptocratic government, which he attributed to the prime minister's unchecked powers and an Umno that is pliable to patronage and unwilling to do something.

But Najib's vast powers and Umno's subservience to him did not happen overnight and long-time government critics have said that it is an accumulation of legacy problems that began since Mahathir's 22 years in power.

Mahathir, since joining the opposition, has softened his stance on a number of issues, including wanting to limit the prime minister's powers. But he remains adamant about not admitting to mistakes, often deflecting such questions with his trademark sarcasm.

Mahathir's son, Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir, who is more willing to tackle the past in a frank manner, acknowledged that issues such as patronage had begun to manifest since Mahathir's time and worsened under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (photo) and Najib.

However, Mukhriz did not blame his father but attributed the problems to circumstances, which he said Mahathir had also expressed worry about when he was prime minister.

He pointed out that Mahathir, in his speech to the Umno general assembly in 1995, had made comments that he found "rather strange".

Worried about Umno's direction

"But now we understand where he was coming from. He said he was worried about where Umno was heading.

"He said he saw that Umno was changing from a party that had members coming from the teaching profession to become a party that has more corporate members.

At the time, Mukhriz said, the transition was not necessarily bad as it was due to the booming economy but there were concerns how it would affect the future.

"Perhaps this was a sign of the times, the economy was doing well, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) was booming, everyone was making money and there were lots of investments coming to the country.

"He (Mahathir) said this in his speech as if it was a concern of his. He was afraid that this will have a certain impact on the party and that the party will change and maybe lose its identity or principle of struggling for the people."

It was also the same year in which Mahathir had read the poem, ‘Perjuangan Belum Selesai’ (The fight is not over), said Mukhriz.

"I remember really well, even then people were talking about 'what is wrong with this old man? Why is he lamenting when we were all doing well?'. Then, he was breaking down when he was reading this poem.

"Now we see that's exactly what happened. Umno changed into a party that was made up of corporate types who weren't putting the interest of the rakyat ahead of everything but had more self-interest.

"They were going up and down ministries, vying for projects, direct awards, closed tenders, using whatever cable they may have to get projects and contracts and that is what Umno is now," said Mukhriz.

Mukhriz claimed he also witnessed this during his time in Umno Youth.

"I saw it with own eyes in Umno, I was there for quite some time. You can see how people can change.

‘Second, third wives club’

Umno Youth members, he claimed, would marry a second or third wife as soon as they get positions in the party.

"It was like a club. I was flabbergasted, I didn't realise in my Umno Youth executive council at the time that it was like a club of guys with second, third wives.

"I thought, 'what the heck is going on here?' It's like a trophy and suddenly they were driving big cars.

Such materialism, unfortunately, had even inflicted the Puteri wing as well, lamented Mukhriz.

"I think they are totally lost. That's why we don't feel at all any bit of regret that we were expelled from Umno.

"We were not leaving the party that we still loved, we knew it's totally changed, it's a totally different thing altogether. When we left it we had no feeling of melancholy."

Both Mukhriz and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin were expelled from Umno in June 2016.

Mukhriz's father, on the other hand, had quit Umno for the second time four months earlier.

Mahathir, together with the Muhyiddin and Mukhriz, went on to form Bersatu in September the same year.

He first quit Umno in May 2008, as a sign of no confidence in his successor Abdullah Ahmad's leadership. He rejoined Umno in 2009 when Najib became prime minister.

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