Fact check: Did Dr M ask Zahid to dissolve Umno?

Fact check: Did Dr M ask Zahid to dissolve Umno?


FACT CHECK | On June 28, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi testified in court that he was asked by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad to dissolve Umno when the two met in June 2018 - a month after Pakatan Harapan won power.

Zahid told the court this during the defence stage of his trial for criminal breach of trust, money laundering and corruption.

The former deputy prime minister was making a case that the charges against him were politically motivated.

Following this, Mahathir suggested Zahid should prove his ‘dissolve Umno’ claims.

This instalment of Fact Check will look at some of the statements made by the duo back in 2018 concerning Umno and if Mahathir had asked Zahid to dissolve the oldest Malay party.

The short answer: Mahathir did publicly admit to asking Zahid to dissolve Umno and persuading Umno members to join Bersatu.

Zahid, as acting Umno president, visited Mahathir - the prime minister at the time - at the Perdana Leadership Foundation headquarters in Putrajaya on June 7, 2018. Later that month, he was elected president of Umno.

By Oct 20, 2018, Zahid was charged with criminal breach of trust, corruption and money laundering in relation to Yayasan Akal Budi.

A week later, he attended the MIC annual general meeting where he revealed that Mahathir had asked him to dissolve Umno.

Dr M: Umno lost original cause

Mahathir responded to this revelation on Nov 9, 2018, in a video uploaded on Bersatu's Facebook.

"I asked him to dissolve (Umno) because there is no more Umno. In practice, there is no more Umno, only a legal entity. Its original cause is gone.

"Why would Umno members need a party that has left its roots and prioritises money? Cash is king. Therefore, Umno, in its present form, should be dissolved," he said.

After criminal charges were laid against Zahid, several Umno MPs defected, putting further doubts on his legitimacy to lead the party.

As pressure mounted, Zahid went on leave as Umno president on Dec 19, 2018, handing over the reins to his deputy Mohamad Hasan. Zahid returned on June 30, 2019.

Muhyiddin Yassin


In recent months, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin has been claiming that Zahid visited him with "stacks of files" when the former was a prime minister, suggesting that the Bagan Datuk MP wanted executive interference in the trial.

Zahid denied the claims and filed a defamation suit against Muhyiddin over it.