GE15: Choosing Umno as govt is like selling the country - Dr Mahathir

PUTRAJAYA - Choosing Umno as the government is like selling the country, says Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

This, he said was because the party (Umno) was known as having corrupted leaders.

He said voters should make a wise decision in choosing a functional and “clean” ruling government that is free from corrupt practices in the 15th General Election (GE15).

“GTA had entered the political arena because we want to go against the current ruling government that is full of corrupt leaders who are involved in various crimes.

“There are no such individuals in GTA.

“The rakyat will need to make a decision between a corrupted government or a government that is free from corruption,” he said during a press conference at Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana, here, today.

He said former prime minister and former Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak had alleged that he (Dr Mahathir) has stolen billions of ringgit and asked the latter for proof if he had done so.

“Najib said I stole billions of ringgit and that my family is rich. Show us proof. But we are not as rich as them (Umno). They can easily buy votes using their money,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said GTA was not a party that would buy votes from the public using money because the party was not “that rich”.

Asked whether Umno was GTA’s main enemy, he said Umno has the potential of “ruining” the country if it had won the election.

Meanwhile, he said GTA could not cooperate with Pakatan Harapan (PH) as it was afraid that it would not be able to attract the Malay voters.

“A lot of the Malays are not keen of DAP so if we work with them (PH), we might not be able to attract Malay voters,” he said.