Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was 'stabbed in the front and back' by his former strongmen in the Kubang Pasu Umno division delegates contest, said political observers.

Those who 'stabbed' him include his former political secretaries Mohd Johari Bahrum, who now heads the Kubang Pasu Umno division, Saad Man and former Kedah Menteri Besar Osman Aroff. ( photo: far right )

According to the observers, Osman and Saad managed to 'change the flow of the votes' when they met with more than 300 of the division's delegates on the night before the meeting.

Prior to that meeting, which took place at a golf club in Jitra, Mahathir's chances of winning were supposedly bright in the division he led for three decades.

However, on Saturday, Mahathir only managed to garner 227 votes from the 493 delegates. He finished ninth among the 17 delegates, which also included his son Mukhriz, who took fifth place.

"If Mahathir was not stabbed by Osman and Saad, Mahathir would have come out fifth or sixth, because a majority of the delegates agreed to choose both him and his son," the observers said.

"However, after that meeting (at the golf club), the votes for Mahathir were affected while support for Mukhriz remained solid," they added.

Strong influence

An Umno branch leader from Jitra said Osman still had a strong influence among the grassroots in Kubang Pasu.

Many of the delegates thought Osman was a 'fence sitter' but they rejected Mahathir after hearing his speech on Friday.

Among others, the former menteri besar called on the delegates not to vote for Mahathir as it could lead to a major crisis in Umno, similar to what happened in 1987 and 1998.

Osman said Mahathir had a track record of breaking up Umno and therefore he should be rejected.

"Do we want Umno to be divided again? If you don't want that to happen, then I call upon all of you not to vote for Mahathir," he said.

On the other hand, Saad told delegates at the same function not to vote for Mahathir in order to safeguard his 'dignity'.

He argued that a statesman such as Mahathir should not be reduced to being a mere delegate but should be the guest of honour at the Umno general assembly in November.

Saad resigned as Mahathir's secretary after the 1999 general elections following rumours that he tried to sabotage Mahathir's nomination papers for the Kubang Pasu parliamentary constituency.

However, Mahathir later refuted rumours that Saad was sacked.

Meanwhile, observers also likened the atmosphere of the Kubang Pasu Umno contest to a by-election since numerous government machineries were deployed to ensure Mahathir's defeat.

While the Umno leadership has denied working against the former premier, numerous allegations have surfaced.