Dr M: Umno must be united, since all wear red

 

Since all Umno division leaders present at the solidarity meet up with president Najib Abdul Razak wore the same colour yesterday, all must be well in the party.

Such was the snide comment by Umno veteran Dr Mahathir Mohamad when asked by reporters on the show of support for Najib yesterday.

"I saw their shirts were all red. So if they were wearing red, must be because they were all in consensus," Dr Mahathir (below) was quoted by The Malay Mail Online as saying.

The former PM, who has been vocal against Najib’s pet project 1Malaysia Development Bhd, lamented that he enjoyed no such colour-coordinated support in his 22 years as party president.

"During my time there was no solidarity. Tengku Razaleigh was fighting with me, Musa was fighting with me, Anwar was fighting with me…There was no such thing as solidarity," the news portal quoted him as saying.

He reportedly said this after attending the International Conference on New World Order in Putrajaya today.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had in 1987 challenged Mahathir for the president post in a vicious election which split the party down the middle and led it to the path of deregistration.

Mahathir then re-registered the party under the name Umno Baru.

He also had two deputy prime ministers who went out against him – Musa Hitam and Anwar Ibrahim, whom Mahathir sacked in 1998.

Musa resigned from the DPM post in 1987 citing irreconcilable differences while Anwar now leads the opposition coalition.

Yesterday 160 divisions met with Najib following attack against him, and declared their support for the embattled PM.

DPM Muhyiddin Yassin and Mahathir’s son Mukhriz, who is also Kedah Menteri Besar, were absent. Organisers said they had prior engagements.