Dr M apologises to allies for resigning

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad apologised to allied MPs at his Kuala Lumpur office yesterday, while his former ally Muhyiddin Yassin was about to be sworn-in as the new prime minister.

Based on a video recording of his address, Mahathir apologised for resigning as prime minister on Feb 24.

Mahathir had resigned after believing that he had lost the majority of support because Bersatu MPs had pulled out of Pakatan Harapan that day.

"I made mistakes. I decided to resign. I resigned because I lost support (of the majority of MPs). So I had to resign. I had no choice.

"I thought that if I resigned, it goes back to the Agong (to choose a new prime minister)," said the veteran politician.

Mahathir said he could have regained support eventually but that was not to be.

"So I will like to tell you once again, I am very sorry," he said in the video, which ended on that note.

Some MPs who were present at the meeting had verified the contents of the video clip, posted by Twitter user @RashidYusoff11.

 'Muhyiddin loyal to himself'

Meanwhile, Mahathir was also depicted telling his audience that he was tricked into trusting Muhyiddin.

"Immediately after telling me that he is loyal to me, (he betrays me). He wasn't expressing loyalty to me. He expressed loyalty to himself.

"He is willing (to cooperate) even with thieves, robbers and killers. That is the type of character that we have," he said.

Mahathir also apologised for not having realised sooner that he was about to be betrayed.

"I'm sorry. He was my No 2 man. I've always had a suspicion, but you don't always act on suspicion. If you have full proof, you act," he said.

Muhyiddin led the bulk of Bersatu MPs away from Mahathir to ally with MPs from Umno, PAS, Gabungan Parti Sarawak and several smaller parties.

The exact number of MPs loyal to Muhyiddin and Mahathir is uncertain due to shifting loyalties.

Muhyiddin's support will only be tested when Parliament reconvenes.