Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad conceded that he had made a "U-turn" by siding with the opposition but used the analogy of a driver to justify his new position.

"Yes, I did a U-turn. Only a stupid driver would drive straight on when seeing the road ahead has been blown up and is no longer passable.

"To support Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who has been accused of stealing billions of ringgit, and a dumb corrupt Umno, would make me a traitor to my country.

"Hence, the U-turn," Mahathir said in a blog posting tonight.