KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — “Save Malaysia” is rooted in the desire to see changes in the country’s leadership and not to promote selfish interests, maintained political and civil society leaders supporting the movement.

Responding to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s political secretary who said the campaign was a vehicle for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s ambitions to make his son, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, the prime minister, they insisted that the allegation was not true.

“If he (Dr Mahathir) really had the influence, then he would have managed to protect Mukhriz (from getting sacked) as MB, right?” argued Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub.

The Islamist leader, who is backing the movement to demand Najib’s resignation, said Dr Mahathir’s impotence in preventing his son’s ouster made it illogical that he would be able to get Muhkriz appointed as prime minister.

Mukhriz was forced out as Kedah MB after Umno lawmakers in the state expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership. The ouster was believed to be linked to Dr Mahathir’s campaign against the PM, but Umno leaders maintain it was due to Mukhriz’s failings.

The former prime minister launched a so-called Citizens’ Declaration on March 4 to call for Najib to step down. The movement escalated into the Save Malaysia movement with the support of opposition leaders from the Pakatan Harapan pact.

Umno leaders then accused Dr Mahathir of waging his campaign against the prime minister for selfish reasons, and Datuk Seri Tengku Sarifuddin Tengku Ahmad this week challenged the former Umno president to name his candidates for prime minister and deputy prime minister to disprove the claim.

Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah, another Save Malaysia proponent, insisted that civil society backers will not allow Dr Mahathir to use it as a vehicle to carry his son to the head of the government.

She further insisted that the decision of who would be prime minister should be decided by the dominant party in Parliament.

“It is not Mahathir and he is not Umno member, how can he decide? No, definitely me and Ambiga and Hisham are not going to allow that to happen,” she said, referring to Hakam chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and activist Hishamuddin Rais who are also part of the movement.

But none directly addressed Tengku Sarifuddin’s challenge for Dr Mahathir to expressly name the people the latter believed should be prime minister in the event the post is vacated.

DAP’s Teresa Kok, the MP for Seputeh, insisted that the question was irrelevant as “Save Malaysia” was only interested in deposing Najib.

The position is not unique within the movement. Nearly all of “Save Malaysia” backers are silent on the matter. Names that are put forth, such as former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, are either coy about the nomination or do not have unanimous support.

“We have never discussed about Mukhriz being PM. It was never the agenda,” Kok said.

Tengku Sarifuddin said this week that Dr Mahathir’s desperation to see Mukhriz become prime minister had driven him to embrace former nemeses such as Lim Kit Siang and DAP, in the hopes that they could help sway the Chinese community to back his ambitious plans.

He also said the suspicion that “Save Malaysia” was a disguised platform for Dr Mahathir’s ambitions will not be dispelled so long as the former prime minister refuses to publicly declare who should be the next prime minister and deputy prime minister.

The PM’s aide previously said Mukhriz’s attempt to win an Umno vice-presidency in 2013 had betrayed his ambitions, noting the position was the first step towards becoming party president, who is by convention the prime minister of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.