PARLIAMENT Dr Mahathir Mohamad has now become a key component of DAP's attempts to unseat BN, said Umno supreme council member Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Ahmad Shabery said DAP could not position itself as a party that could provide a prime ministerial candidate and had to use other parties.

"What they can't offer is a prime minister. I consider anyone that can fulfill DAP's ambition to oust the present government as a puppet of DAP," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Since Mahathir was at the fore in the attempts to oust BN, said Ahmad Shabery, he was indirectly a puppet to DAP.

Ahmad Shabery was responding to claims by Umno information chief Annuar Musa that DAP had "infiltrated" PKR, Amanah and Parti Pribumi Bersatu (Bersatu).

Mahathir is the president of Bersatu, which was formed recently with several former Umno leaders to oppose Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Bersatu is currently in a loose alliance with Pakatan Harapan.

Annuar claimed that should the Pakatan-Bersatu alliance defeat BN in the upcoming general election, DAP would have the biggest say in the new government because of its proxies in other parties.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Shabery today said the public should evaluate whether there was more freedom now compared to the Mahathir administration.

"His administration saw the largest number of people arrested under the Internal Security Act 1969. Newspapers were closed. The Star was banned during his time.

"If we want to talk about freedom, he should tell us what kind of freedom was available when he was chief executive," said Ahmad Shabery, who was once part of an Umno faction that rebelled against Mahathir in 1987.

Ahmad Shabery said this when asked on the invitation for Mahathir to attend a meeting in Parliament tomorrow for an opposition-led discussion on parliamentary immunity.

Former cabinet ministers Muhyiddin Yassin, Mohd Shafie Apdal and Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah have reportedly confirmed their attendance. The meeting was organised by DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.