NEW YORK: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is predicting the collapse of Umno, which is the backbone of the Barisan Nasional coalition.
Speaking at an event here on Wednesday, Dr Mahathir said that many Umno members are leaving the party now that they no longer fear former party president and former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
"Umno is fragmented now, it is going to collapse. There's no future for Umno anymore, because the people as a whole detest Umno," he said at a meeting with members of the United States Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr Mahathir said Najib had undermined the leadership and even the rank-and-file of the party due to the influence of money.
The administrative machinery, he said, had also been undermined.
"He made the administrators serve his party, campaign for his party. That's not what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to take orders from the elected government of course, but not to campaign for the party. That's not their job.
"And now, I have a problem trying to weed out some of these people who're still loyal to him in a way," Dr Mahathir said. -- Bernama