KUALA LUMPUR: Umno’s treatment of Dr Mahathir Mohamad may backfire against the party, said former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir, who cited this as among the reasons Barisan Nasional (BN) lost the state to PAS in the 2008 polls.

In an exclusive interview with FMT, the PPBM deputy president recalled the time his father failed to get elected as Kubang Pasu’s delegate to the Umno general assembly in 2006, despite representing the constituency for over three decades including when he was prime minister.

Mahathir served as the prime minister from 1981 to 2003, and was also the Umno president during the same period.

Mukhriz said Mahathir had wanted to raise issues about his successor at the Umno assembly, but was “blocked” from winning the seat after delegates were “bought” by those alligned to Abdullah Badawi.

“Umno Kubang Pasu was regarded as a ‘pariah’,” said Mukhriz, who was a federal deputy minister when Mahathir openly criticised the Umno-led government under Abdullah in the aftermath of the 2008 elections.

Mukhriz said the move was costly to Umno, and many had failed to comprehend how Mahathir who once led the party could be sidelined.

Mukhriz said a post-mortem of BN’s defeat in Kedah in the 2008 elections also showed that the Kubang Pasu episode was among the factors for the coalition’s poor performance.

“The ripple effect was so huge,” said Mukhriz, the former Kedah Umno treasurer.

“We were all stunned when we saw the report. And according to my colleagues in Perak and Penang, it was a factor too.”

Mukhriz claims the ripples that led to BN’s failure in retaining Kedah are still being felt.

He is confident that the Mahathir factor would help Pakatan Harapan win Kedah.

“The Tun M factor is still there even though the tables are turned. He is still influential even among Umno members,” he said.

‘We like it when they attack Tun’

Mukhriz said recent attacks by Umno leaders against Mahathir would also similarly backfire.

“We like it when they attack Tun,” he said.

He said Malays do no condone the act of condemning an elderly leader, especially one who is addressed as “ayahanda” (father).

“They use a very respectful term for him. They may not agree with him a 100%, but it still does not give them an excuse from using terms like ‘kepala bapak’, which is uncalled for,” he said.