‘Dr M is the one who has forgotten his roots’

TUN Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who as Umno president lamented that Melayu mudah lupa (Malays forget easily), is the one who has actually forgotten the party’s cause, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Zeroing his attack against the Opposition squarely on Dr Maha­thir, Najib said the former prime minister and Umno president was a “Melayu mudah lupa”.

Dr Mahathir’s famous words, said Najib in his presidential address at the Umno general assembly yesterday, actually reflected on himself as the former leader who had abandoned the party’s cause for personal greed and agenda.

“It is strange that some are willing to be led by an individual in his sunset years whereas former president (Robert) Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who is the same age, has been rejected by his people,” he said.

Najib reminded the delegates that it was on this very stage at the Putra World Trade Centre that Dr Mahathir had talked about Melayu mudah lupa.

“But for us, he crossed the line when he became willing to join forces with his own political enemies and enemies of his own principles for decades,” he added.

Najib said regardless of ethnicity, the Government considered all of the country’s 32 million-strong population to be “children of 1Malaysia”.

“Strangely, one former Umno president, who is now the main leader of an Opposition party, is still trapped in a colonial mindset to the extent that he is willing to scorn people of Bugis ancestry,” he added.

Dr Mahathir allegedly claimed Malaysia had a leader who was descended from “Bugis pirates” during the Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy rally on Oct 14.

Najib said this was not what Umno was about as it celebrated the ethnic diversity of the Malay stock.

He also questioned the democracy DAP supposedly fought for when only 54% of the delegates attended its central executive committee re-election.

“Umno has made seven amendments to its constitutions since 2009 to allow over 150,000 members to elect the party leadership.

“In comparison, for the past 50 years, DAP has been dominated by its adviser and father-son dynasty,” he noted.

As for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, Najib questioned the party’s ability to lead when it could not even manage its meetings, adding that it was clear that it was being used as a “tool by DAP, which aimed to turn the country into a fully secular state”.

On Umno-PAS relations, he said Umno’s stand on this was clear and they were for the interests of the Muslim community.