Mukhriz Mahathir told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not encourage him to contest for the post of Umno vice-president in 2013.

Responding to a question from lawyer Jahabardeen Mohd Yunos, who is representing the prime minister's press aide Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad, Mukhriz said Najib wanted the existing vice-presidents to remain in their respective posts.

"However, I decided to contest as I felt it was not good for Umno, as a democratic party, to do so since at the time the president and deputy president posts were already uncontested,” he said...