Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad disputes sacking from Bersatu, the party he co-founded

The move comes amid speculation that he has managed to win enough support to return as prime minister for the third time

Key allies – including son Mukhriz Mahathir, ex-youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, and ex-education minister Maszlee Malik – also expelled

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Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad. Photo: AP

Published: 7:40pm, 28 May 2020Updated: 12:50am, 29 May 2020

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has been sacked from the Malay-centric party he co-founded and led to victory in the 2018 general election – a move the 94-year-old leader immediately disputed.

Hours after being issued termination letters on Thursday evening, Mahathir and four key allies from the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) released a statement indicating they did not recognise their sacking. Instead, their countermove was to sack the party’s working secretary for sending out the termination letters.

The late-night saga occurred amid speculation that Mahathir had managed to garner enough support from MPs in the 222-seat legislature to make a dramatic return to the prime ministership for the third time, after his shock removal from power in February.

In a letter to the veteran leader dated Thursday, PPBM – which staged a self-coup that toppled Mahathir – said his decision to sit alongside the official opposition in last week’s parliament sitting was grounds for his party membership to be “immediately nullified”.

The letter cited sections of the party constitution that said members were liable to be sacked immediately if they were found to have declared an intention to leave the party or if they formally joined another party.

The local news websites The Malaysian Insight and Malaysiakini shared a copy of the letter on Twitter. Alongside Mahathir, four key allies – including his son Mukhriz Mahathir, former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and former education minister Maszlee Malik – were also sacked from the party.