Dr M says Hassan Ali unwelcome in Umno

As far as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is concerned, Datuk Dr Hassan Ali is not welcome in Umno although the embattled Selangor PAS commissioner is facing calls to step down as executive councillor and resign from Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“Not Hassan Ali,” was Dr Mahathir response today when asked by reporters if Umno was ready to embrace its former member who is now a senior figure in the party's Islamist rival.

Hassan has repeatedly crossed swords with his coalition partners and calls for him to leave PR are growing louder after his latest move to criticise the special select committee for competency, accountability and transparency (Selcat) which he claimed bullied civil servants at a recent public inquiry.

Hassan once boasted the government spent RM1 million on him so he could get his doctorate but "he repaid us by turning against us", said Dr Mahathir.

“That’s political gratitude and the problem with our political leaders, you bring them up and they hit you in the head.”

The former prime minister also said he did not see a problem with Selcat and the ongoing public inquiry into the misused of state allocations by former Barisan Nasional state assemblymen who had spent their annual allocation for small projects in just two months ahead of the general election last year.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

He said inquiries are good because if the wrongdoings of old leaders are not exposed, new leaders may think they can get away with doing the same.

“I was also investigated after I stepped down but they found nothing so they held an inquiry which claimed that I listened to Vincent Tan on the appointment of judges,” he said, referring to the royal panel which investigated the VK Lingam tape issue that pointed to fixing judicial appointments.

Dr Mahathir said he could have gone to court to clear his name if he wanted to but has not done so.

He also said the conflicts within PR were an indication of the marriage of convenience between the coalition partners which were moving in different directions.

“It would be a disaster for the country if they came to power,” he noted.

Neville Spykerman