Suspended Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin revealed that the key leaders who are condemning him today are the very same people who had first approached him to voice concern about Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's scandals.
"Perhaps many do not know that in the early stages, a few key Umno leaders came to meet me to complain about the scandals plaguing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife.
"They asked that I do something to rectify the situation. They were concerned that Umno would be rejected by the rakyat if Najib continued to lead the party.
"I told them that I cannot do this alone and I proposed that they collectively advice Najib. Hopefully, he will be prepared to correct his mistakes to save Umno and the country.
"Unfortunately they did not dare to do so," Muhyiddin said in a statement today.
In the end, Muhyiddin said he was forced to take matters into his own hands when the situation became worse.
Muhyiddin said he raised the issue with Najib when they met in private as well as in the cabinet meeting, Umno supreme council meeting, and later even publicly.
"When I continue to voice out, the people who came to meet me before this began to distance themselves from me.
"These people are the most vocal in criticising me now," he said.
Muhyiddin said he is not slighted by this but said he is irked with the apparent erosion of virtues in Umno.
"What has happened to the value system in Umno? Have values such as honesty, sincerity, courage to state the truth and oppose what is wrong disappeared?
"Has the fighting spirit in Umno leaders melted away? Is the desire for power that is fraught with deception the only thing that triumphs?" he asked.
Muhyiddin lamented that such values appear to have been drained from Umno.
"Those with vested interest can no longer differentiate between what is right and wrong.
"What is being emphasised is not the party's original struggle but self-interest.
"As a result of this, Umno will become rotten and rejected by the rakyat," he said.
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