A senior UMNO leader said today the allegation by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sought his help to topple Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is another attempt by the former prime minister to raise suspicion among UMNO members.

Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who is UMNO Information Chief, said the allegation was similar to the claim by Dr Mahathir that RM42 billion was missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, so as to incite UMNO members.

As such, Annuar advised UMNO members not to be trapped by the strategy of the adversary, especially Pakatan Harapan, which continually attempted to create a crack in UMNO, although these efforts had failed so far.

"Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God), UMNO members remain strong in solidarity and are not easily fooled by Tun M's trickery," he said in a statement.

Dr Mahathir had claimed recently that Ahmad Zahid had met him after being appointed the deputy prime minister to seek his help to become the prime minister.

Annuar said that if Dr Mahathir could so easily deceive the people, previously or now, there was nothing to prevent him from continuing to legitimise his lies as his political strategy.

-- BERNAMA