Former prime minister-turned-blogger Dr Mahathir Mohamad is once again rallying for support to get his handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi thrown out from office.

In his latest blog posting on chedet.com , Mahathir said many Umno leaders were afraid to openly speak out against Abdullah.

“That was why I started my blog. About six million have visited my blogsite and tens of thousands have commented and supported me. But most appear to be worried and would not give their names. They are usually anonymous. So the support is not effective.

“I cannot do everything all by myself. I need support. I cannot just go to Abdullah, catch him by the scruff of his neck and throw him out,” he said.

Blog readers aside, Mahathir said he needed support from Umno members the most.

“But Umno and its other leaders are useless. They are only interested in getting something for themselves but do not care if Umno and this country are totally destroyed,” said Mahathir, who has resigned from Umno in May.

PKR’s victory a death knell for BN

He said Umno and Barisan Nasional supporters were left with only one option, that is to vote for the opposition to show their displeasure at the party leadership.

And if the opposition wins, that would destroy the country, argued Mahathir.

“People deserve the government they get. If they get a bad government it is because they are unwilling to fight against it, unwilling to take any risk,” he said.

Mahathir lamented that BN was in doldrums as demonstrated by the coalition’s lackluster campaign during the Permatang Pauh by-election.

He also said coalition partners MCA, MIC and Gerakan were in disarray after senior party leaders left to join PKR.

"Abdullah has already destroyed Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the BN. Gerakan is talking about leaving the BN. MCA is more muted but its leaders who used to support Abdullah come what may, have deserted him.

“Really, Barisan is in a sorry state. Not one leader has any guts. I hate to say it but the Permatang Pauh victory by PKR probably sounded the death knell of all the BN parties and the BN.

“This is the doing of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,” he said.

“History will record the failure of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his minions. And the founders of the parties and future politicians will curse the leadership of BN through and through,” he added.