KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today described Umno as “totally corrupt”, and that the conviction and jailing of Datuk Seri Najib Razak for embezzling public funds through a 1MDB subsidiary isn’t likely to cleanse the party he once led.
The former two-time prime minister said in a lengthy blog post that Umno is no longer the same party that was found to champion the Malays, as he called for voters to bury the Malay nationalist party at the upcoming general election.
Dr Mahathir, who led the party as its longest-serving president, declared that Umno is beyond saving and that the only way to end the corruption perpetrated by its leaders is to kill it off entirely.
“Najib’s jailing won’t clean up Umno. Umno’s culture today is not the culture of the party when it was just formed. This is no longer Umno,” he said.
“That is why Umno must be defeated and replaced with a Malay party that holds strongly to the Malay principles that fights for its race, country and faith,” the 97-year-old former prime minister added.
Dr Mahathir noted that Umno leaders have rallied behind Najib even as the Federal Court had upheld a High Court ruling that found the latter guilty beyond reasonable doubt, which to him clearly indicates that Umno is rotten to the core.
He wrote: “Umno today has shifted to become a party of corruptors in total — from the top leadership all the way down to the grassroots. Umno’s top echelons are now recognised worldwide as corruptors, stealers of billions of public monies, power abusers, pests that crippled governance and Umno itself.”
Umno’s six-decade rule ended after the 2018 general election as public discontent over corruption scandals of its leaders and economic mismanagement drove huge vote swings that gave its rivals federal power for the first time.
Yet the party is now back in power thanks to a backdoor power play, even as several of its leaders are on trial for corruption.
Najib’s successor in Umno, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, himself is now facing trial for a litany of charges that include soliciting and accepting bribes worth millions of ringgit.
While some party leaders have tried to distance themselves from Zahid and Najib, most in Umno remain supportive.
Dr Mahathir alleged that bribery and corruption are widely practised all the way up to the party’s supreme council and done blatantly with the tacit endorsement of grassroots supporters.
“Even though Umno members can sack these leaders, they haven’t leveraged on Umno’s constitution to cleanse the party. Instead, they continue to support the president who will eventually be convicted and jailed too,” he said.
Dr Mahathir left Umno just before the 2018 general election and has formed two new parties since. He has remained vocal about Umno’s alleged corruption although his critics have argued that the culture’s emergence coincided with his rule as the party’s president.
