A Penang DAP convention delegate today likened former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to a "pimp" and a "snake", but later retracted his statement on DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng's urging.

According to The Star, Chai Leng Park delegate Shamsher Singh Thind said Mahathir reminded him of a parable of a snake which bites because this is in its nature.

"The stupidest statement I have heard (about Dr Mahathir) is that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.

"Mahathir is not the enemy of my enemy. He is my enemy," he added.

He asked party elders who shook hands with Mahathir if they felt humiliated, and claimed the now Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairperson is cosying up to the opposition for fear of exposes against him.

"It's like wanting to save a whore, but he is the pimp who turned the woman into a whore," Shamsher reportedly said.

Lim urged Shamser to retract the statements referring to the ex-PM as a snake and pimp as it was not decorum.

"Let us not go down to that level...Treat this like a lecture hall and you are the lecturer," Lim reportedly said.

Won't back down against co-operation with Bersatu

In a statement later, Shamser said he withdrew the words "pimp" and "snake" out of respect for Lim.

However, he stressed the instructions to retract should have come from the conference speaker and not the secretary-general.

His disapproval over co-operation with Mahathir and Mahathir's new party still stands.

"He has neither apologised or (been) punished for what he has been done.

"He has no interest in saving Malaysia. He just wants to safeguard his interests because he is worried about his future if Pakatan (Harapan) wins," he said in the statement.

He also condemned co-operation with Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin.

"Muhyiddin defended the novel Interlok, which contained the derogatory word 'pariah' (when he was education minister)," Shamser said.

Since quitting Umno over dissatisfaction with party president Najib Abdul Razak, Mahathir has been active at opposition events.

He is a key member of the Save Malaysia group, consisting largely of opposition politicians and civil society, which came up with the Citizens' Declaration.

Mahathir also presented the declaration, which among others called for Najib's resignation, to the Agong seeking royal intervention, but to no avail.