Dr Mahathir Mohamad has ruled out forming a splinter group of Umno in the wake of the intensified rift with his handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"No, no, breakaway branch (of Umno), only one or two (Umno) leaders are wrong," he told reporters after attending the Umno Youth Petaling Jaya Utara division meeting today.

Mahathir however argued that his criticisms would not divide Umno "as there will always be differences in Umno but members will come together again when things become clearer".

Asked when he would end his scathing criticisms against the present government, he rebutted: "You' re always asking for end game. End game means anything that is good for Umno in the end."

On whether Pak Lah should be removed, Mahathir said that was up to party members to decide.

He advised Umno leaders to speak the truth if they want to continue to enjoy support from the people in the general elections.

"Only when you start cheating the people, then you will be defeated. Don't lie," he pointed out.

Undemocratic ruling

Mahathir, who is also the ex-Umno president, questioned a party ruling which he claimed was stopping him from speaking to party members.

He was referring to the ruling that party divisions should not invite Mahathir to officiate their meetings since he is neither an Umno supreme council member nor a government leader.

"It is very undemocratic. During my time, when Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah) and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were against me, they went around and speak to everybody.

"I never stopped them, it's not in the tradition of Umno," he said, adding that the reason why party leaders are afraid of letting him speak up worries him as it seems to suggest that they have something to hide.

Elaborating, he stressed that he was merely asking why he could not speak to party members since he is also an Umno member and party expresident.

"If an ex-president can't speak to the party, there must be something wrong. If I say something against Umno, yes (you can stop me), but as you can hear, I am all for Umno."

To a question that his ex-deputy Anwar Ibrahim was also treated in the same manner by him after their fallout in 1998, Mahathir disagreed.

"He was free to go everywhere, even when he was in jail, he was writing from there. Normally people in jail can only speak to visitors, but he has a cellular phone and was writing to the foreign press.

"Umno members listened to all his speeches. Otherwise why do you think I lost some support (in the general election then)?" he asked.

Mahathir has written a two-page open letter addressed to all Umno members titled 'Prohibition to listen to my explanation' and it was widely distributed in today's meeting.

The letter is expected to reach about three million Umno members nationwide via various means.

Apart from questioning why party members were stopped from listening to him, he said at the end of the letter: "They (party leaders) are afraid to let me speak up because they are wrong."

'Who to replace you'

Mahathir's attendance at the Umno Youth division meeting today was the first of its kind as he was invited to attend a few other upcoming meetings. He however claimed "two or three divisions" had since faced pressures to cancel their invitation.

The Umno Youth Petaling Jaya Utara has initially planned to invite Mahathir to officiate the meeting but it was cancelled due to the party ruling.

Instead, the youth wing invited Mahathir to speak at the specially-arranged session before the division's meeting called 'Jasamu tetap dikenang' in appreciation of his contribution.

During his one-hour address, which was attended by about 500 youth delegates and his supporters, Mahathir repeatedly said Umno members are mature enough to listen to both sides of the story in his on-going spat with Abdullah.

"Umno members are adults. If they can only listen to a one-sided story, there is something to hide. I am alone, I don't have television or newspaper to support me," he said to reply from the audience that 'We are with you Tun (Mahathir's honorific title)'.

He received thunderous applause several times during his speech, one was when he asked for the chance to speak up and told those who do not want to listen to him to close their ears.

His supporters also chanted 'long live Mahathir' while a violinist performed the famous P Ramlee's song 'Di manakah ku cari ganti' (Who to replace you).

The Umno Youth division chief Mohamad Azli Mohamed Saad when met by reporters said Mahathir did not criticise the government but merely "highlighting certain issues".