Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has questioned the need to hold the upcoming Umno general assembly if members are not going to be informed on the latest developments.

“I don’t know why efforts are being made by Umno so that debate on certain matters, especially on 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak’s) personal accounts, cannot not be raised.

“The public will not be able to follow the assembly proceedings as not all speeches by the delegates will be telecast. Only the president’s speech will be on air,” Mahathir pointed out in his latest blog post today.

Mahathir added that Muhyiddin Yassin, as Umno deputy president, should be the one to officiate the party’s youth, women and Puteri wings’ assemblies.

“But Umno members have been warned not to talk about this. So what kind of Umno general assembly is this?” he asked.

Mahathir added that although he will not be contesting for any posts, efforts are being made to shut him up to prevent him from meeting Umno members and the public.

The Umno general assembly is scheduled to be held from Dec 8 to Dec 12.

There is high possibility that the assembly will not be free from fireworks, as some members are dissatisfied over the 1MDB issue as well as the sacking of Muhyiddin and former minister Shafie Apdal, among others.

Facing challenges

Meanwhile, Mahathir said facing challenges was normal especially for those in politics.

“It is better for those who can’t bear to face and overcome challenges to leave the world of politics," he said.

Mahathir pointed out how challenges had gone his way countless of times when he was Umno president and prime minister.

“Of course there were attempts to topple me as Umno president. One of the biggest challenges was when (Umno veteran) Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was nominated to contest the Umno president’s post,” he noted.

He however said Ku Li, as he is fondly known, was free to campaign all over the country to meet Umno members and that his posts as Umno treasurer and finance minister were not affected in doing so.

Ku Li was narrowly defeated - with only a difference of 43 votes - by Mahathir when he challenged the latter for the party's presidency in 1987.

After a court case led to Umno being de-registered, he, together with his supporters, left the party and formed Semangat 46.