Dr Mahathir on loyalty to party and Umno chief - The Star

PETALING JAYA: Criticising or pressuring the Umno president to step down does not mean one is disloyal to the party, said former party president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir went on to question the rationale of some claims that those who were not loyal to current president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were not loyal to Umno.

“Is Umno Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and is Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Umno?

“Only those with individualistic interest will spread and support the concept that Umno is Datuk Seri Abdullah and not being loyal to Abdullah meant that members were not being loyal to Umno,” he said in his latest blog posting at www.chedet.com on Friday.

Dr Mahathir also cited past incidences where Umno leaders disagreed with the party presidency due to their loyalty to the party.

“Tun Razak and several Umno leaders disagreed with Yang di-Pertua Umno Datuk Onn Jaafar’s suggestion to open to all races which eventually caused Datuk Onn to back down.

“In 1969-1971, they also disagreed with Tunku Abdul Rahman’s leadership in the party and he stepped down. But does this mean that they did not love the party or were disloyal to it?” he asked.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/25/nation/21347400&sec=nation]