GE14 | Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has clarified he did not state that e-hailing services will be abolished if the opposition coalition wins the coming general election.

In a Twitter posting, the former premier said he had mentioned that the current legislation would be reviewed to ensure that the rights of both, e-hailing services and taxi drivers, are protected.

“Please spread this tweet so people would know how desperate the pro-BN media is. They know Grab drivers and taxi drivers reject Umno-BN,” he added, describing the reports as fake news.

Mahathir also included a link to the Star Online report on the issue. But when Malaysiakini clicked on the link, it showed that the page no longer existed.

However, Mahathir had attached a screen capture of the article on his Facebook page, which featured the headline, “Dr M says Pakatan will abolish ride-hailing services.”

This afternoon, Star Online published another article with the headline, “Ride-hailing issue becomes hot election topic”.

Among others, the report stated that Sinar Harian had reported that Mahathir would "menghapuskan (abolish)" the e-hailing services.

Meanwhile, New Straits Times, quoting Sinar Harian, published Mahathir's remarks on the e-hailing services with the headline, “Mahathir: We will abolish Grab, ride-sharing services if opposition takes over government.” The article was later removed.

It is unclear if the Star Online also quoted Sinar Harian in its original article.

Meanwhile, the headlines also courted the wrath of Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.

“This is the level of Umno-BN and Najib (Abdul) Razak, because they know that they have lost the support of the taxi drivers and also Uber/Grab drivers.

“Therefore, the level of desperation drove them to run this fake news, but I believe people on the ground know better that Najib and The Star are spreading lies. Lies, and more lies,” he added.

Earlier today, Najib had criticised Mahathir over his remarks but refrained from using the word abolish.

The caretaker prime minister described his former mentor-turned-nemesis as a nonagenarian who refused to adapt to the times or understand how technological advances benefit Malaysians.