Umno supreme council member Ismail Sabri Yaakob believes that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad no longer has the strength to lead the soon-to-be-formed new political party, since he has long retired from politics.

Ismail argued that Mahathir was not like leaders such as Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who have their own influence and strength.

“When Anwar was sacked from Umno, he was a strong deputy prime minister and with his influence in terms of support, he was able to undermine Umno’s strength at the time.