Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad today warned that Umno may not recover in time for the 14th general election if it does not remove prime minister and Umno president Najib Abdul Razak soon.
"Umno members who love Umno and want to see it remain in power must reject Najib before the general election.
"If the rejection comes too late, Umno may not have enough time to recover (for the general election)," he said in a blog posting today.
Mahathir also claimed that Najib was now a 'hated' leader.
"Those who give victory to Umno candidates are the Malays. They believe in Umno's struggle even though they do not join Umno.
"The Chinese and Indians also contribute to the victory of Umno candidates.
"(But) they do not believe in Umno anymore. They hate Najib and they believe he used money to buy Umno leaders.
"The majority of the rakyat reject and hate Najib as prime minister. They cannot accept Najib's claim that the RM2.6 billion in his personal bank account is a donation from the Arabs," he said.
'Rakyat's hatred is at Najib, not Umno or BN'
Mahathir said Umno cannot win based on the support of its members alone.
However, Mahathir said this "hatred" is only directed at Najib and removing him from power would allow Umno to make a comeback.
"If Najib is no longer Umno president and leader of BN, there is a strong likelihood that BN and Umno can win (in the general election).
"The rakyat's hatred is not directed at Umno or BN. They just cannot accept Najib and are only angry at Najib and a few Umno leaders who apple polish for positions and other benefits," he said.
Mahathir said therefore, those who love Umno should immediately reject Najib.
"If (Umno members) love Najib, then Umno will lose power and be destroyed," he said.
More news
'Which Parliament in world forbids no confidence vote?'
Khairy: Umno Youth members free to join red-shirt rally
Pua: I'm just convenient target for 1MDB leak attacks
S'gor PAS bans members from red shirts protest
PKR tells DAP, PAS, Amanah not to turn guns at each other
Azmin very wrong to continue working with PAS: Ramkarpal
Time for regime change when NST goes to the dogs
Skulls paraded to call divine intervention in NCR case
'PM's okay for pro-Malay red shirts rally overshadows M'sia Day'
Pua to 1MDB: Prove you're not responsible for missing US$1.4b
Websites promoting red rally risk MCMC block 'if illegal'
As expected, IGP not taking up on Dr M’s dare
Why is Rosmah a lightning rod for criticism?
Pahang state assembly rep quits PAS, joins Amanah
KL cops blast calls for Bkt Bintang rally
Slash GST in 2016 budget, urge small businesses
MCMC to take action if WSJ reports false, says minister
Anwar accuses Zahid of scuttling his legal cases
When threatening Chinese is an act of patriotism
