Speaking to FMT, Rais said it had been made clear in a signed Pakatan presidential council document that the opposition coalition had not forgotten Malay interests.
“That document, as well as PH’s constitution, includes matters on the preservation of Malay rights, the preservation of Bahasa, the preservation of the sultans and the preservation of Islam,” he said.
“So I don’t know where his claim comes from. But it is a lie.
“I think that maybe he has some language problem, like the problem he once had in Australia. We know he cannot read in English. Now I don’t know if he can read even in Bahasa because we signed the agreement in Bahasa.”
Muhammad, better known as Mat Taib, served as menteri besar of Selangor from 1986 to 1997. He was forced to resign from the post after he was charged in Australia over currency irregularities amounting to RM3.8 million.
The Australian court cleared him after he said he did not understand English and therefore did not understand the currency regulations.
However, in a later development, an investigative committee found that the court had erred in its judgment.
Muhammad later became the rural and regional development minister. In 2009, he was replaced in that post by Shafie Apdal.
He left Umno in 2013 to join PAS, which was then in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition.
He quit the Islamist party in September 2015 and then joined PKR, saying he wished for a strong alternative government to be formed.
His re-entry into Umno was announced yesterday by Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The announcement was met with a lot of criticism and ridicule by Pakatan politicians, who said it wasn’t worthy of all the hype that preceded it.
Rais called it a “public relations disaster” for Najib, saying the Umno president shouldn’t have made “a big deal out of a nomad politician rejoining Umno.”