DAP and I were just using each other to defeat Najib, says Dr M

The former prime minister acknowledges that they had a common aim in GE14, but ‘now we have a problem’.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says both he and DAP were merely using each other in their shared pursuit of toppling Najib Razak and his administration in the 2018 general election (GE14).

Mahathir said the collaboration with DAP was driven by the mutual desire to secure a two-thirds majority for Pakatan Harapan during GE14, bearing in mind that “the enemy of your enemy is your friend”.

“If I hadn’t used DAP, we wouldn’t have achieved a majority and Najib would have continued as prime minister. Between DAP and Najib, which one do we need to eliminate?” he said on the latest episode of the “Keluar Sekejap” podcast.

“That’s why I wanted to use DAP. And I realised that DAP also wanted to use me because DAP also had the same goal, which was to get a two-thirds majority and take down (Najib).”

Mahathir was responding to former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan, who questioned his apparent inconsistency in dealing with DAP and PAS.

The former Langkawi MP was previously a staunch critic of DAP and PAS during his time with Umno.

After quitting Umno, Mahathir co-founded Bersatu in 2016 and joined PH with PKR, DAP and Amanah. The coalition won GE14 and Mahathir became the prime minister.

However, the government collapsed when Muhyiddin Yassin led Bersatu out of PH to join forces with PAS and MPs from Umno and Barisan Nasional to form a new government.

Mahathir is now the informal adviser of four PAS-led state governments and had attended the Islamic party’s recent muktamar.

“It seems like it also depends on the situation. So, how do you explain that, sir?” Shahril asked.

Mahathir said it was important to have a strategy to achieve goals and learn to adapt to different situations.

“At one time, I needed DAP to defeat Najib. Now, we have a problem and I realised there’s no other choice other than working with PAS.

“I cooperated with them (DAP) as their goal was the same as mine,” he said, without elaborating on the “problem”.