In a statement on X, Mahathir said he resigned because the party he led, Bersatu, chose not to follow his advice, leaving him to feel that he should “resign honourably”.

“Zahid need not thump his chest as if he is the hero who brought me down and saved Umno,” he said.

“Zahid is not a hero. He is merely someone (who was) facing charges in court and (was) willing to collaborate with Umno’s staunch enemy, DAP, to become deputy prime minister in order to save himself ….”

On Saturday, Zahid said he was the mastermind behind Mahathir’s decision to relinquish his post as prime minister.

Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, said he did so to save Umno from being deregistered as a political party.

Mahathir stepped down as prime minister in February 2020, leading to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.

This led to a new government formed by Bersatu, Barisan Nasional, PAS and several PKR MPs, led by Azmin Ali.

Then home minister Muhyiddin Yassin took over as prime minister.

Mahathir was then the chairman of Bersatu, which is largely seen as an Umno splinter party. He also resigned from the party after stepping down as the prime minister.

In his post on X, Mahathir said that Zahid, who was appointed Umno president after BN’s loss to Pakatan Harapan in the 2018 general election, met him to share his concerns about Umno’s future.

Mahathir, a former Umno president, said he told Zahid that he believed the party had strayed from its founding principles and should be dissolved.

In a Berita Harian report, Zahid said he was the “mastermind who brought down Mahathir at that time (2020) because there was no way Umno could be banned, insulted and accused of various things, and labelled as thieves or corrupt”.

Zahid said he was informed that Muhyiddin, as the home minister, was ready to deregister Umno by signing the relevant papers.

He said that given the situation, Umno members, particularly its leaders, relied on him to find the best approach to ensure the party was not deregistered.

Zahid said he would reveal more about what had transpired at the time in his upcoming memoir, which he hopes will serve as a guide for future Umno leaders.