Mahathir denies hand in alleged ‘Dubai Move’ to topple government; PAS chief claims no need to ‘shop’ for support

SINGAPORE: Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday (Jan 5) for the first time denied his involvement in the “Dubai Move” while opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) chief Abdul Hadi Awang claims that his party needs only to rely on tenets of democracy to garner the support of Members of Parliament (MPs) to form the government.  

Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi called on members of the opposition to put a stop to actions that “waste the people’s time” in reference to the alleged Dubai Move. 

The Dubai Move refers to an alleged plot by opposition leaders from Perikatan Nasional (PN) and other party leaders to topple the current administration led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in order to form a backdoor government. PAS is a component party within PN. 

The leaders were said to have met in December while holidaying in Dubai. 

“First of all, I haven’t been to Dubai for a long time,” said Dr Mahathir in a post on social media platform X. 

He claimed instead that forming a backdoor government is the “speciality” of Mr Anwar, citing the latter’s attempt to overthrow the then-government on Sep 16, 2008 as well as a plan in 2014 known as the “Kajang Move”.

On Sep 16, 2008, Mr Anwar had planned to topple the then-Barisan Nasional (BN) government, alleging that he had commanded the support of a majority of BN MPs.

The plan failed, however, when then-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi rejected Mr Anwar’s proposal to call for a special Dewan Rakyat sitting. 

Meanwhile, the Kajang Move refers to an attempt by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to topple then-Selangor chief minister Abdul Khalid Ibrahim – to be replaced by Mr Anwar – who was seen as going against party policies. 

In his post on Friday, Dr Mahathir in a jibe against Mr Anwar claimed that attempts to form a backdoor government are “considered legitimate and pure as long as (Mr Anwar) gets to become the prime minister”. 

“There were also strategies (by Mr Anwar) that relied on (saying) ‘I have the numbers’ and (saying) ‘strong, formidable and convincing majority’. 

“When these strategies were being used, they were not considered to be rebellious, a form of betrayal, or likely to destabilise the government, damage the economy, or violate democratic principles,” said Dr Mahathir.