Umno is going to collapse: Mahathir

NEW YORK: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has predicted that Umno, the backbone of the Barisan Nasional that was removed from power in Malaysia's general election in May, is going to collapse.
Speaking at an event here on Wednesday, the prime minister said that many of its members were leaving the party now that they no longer feared former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
"Umno is fragmented now, it is going to collapse. There's no future for Umno anymore, because the people as a whole detest Umno," he said at a meeting with members of the United States Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr Mahathir said Najib had undermined the leadership and even the rank and file of the party due to the influence of money.
The administrative machinery, he said, had also been undermined.
"He made the administrators serve his party, campaign for his party. That's not what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to take orders from the elected government of course, but not to campaign for the party. That's not their job.
"And now I have a problem trying to weed out some of these people who're still loyal to him in a way," Dr Mahathir said.
To a question, he said that incoming PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim succeeding him after a period of time was the promise they made when they formed the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
"The people are getting used to the idea that prime ministers do change. I was there for 22 years (as prime minister) to the point that people thought prime ministers would never change.
"But now they are seeing a number of prime ministers changing, so if he takes over, it's just a change," Dr Mahathir said, adding that handing over office to Anwar after two years as prime minister was indeed his promise. — Bernama