KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 'confession' that he only used DAP to topple Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's government in 2018 proves that the former premier was never sincere in collaborating with the party, according to DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke.

Loke said this contradicts DAP's intention to cooperate with Dr Mahathir at that time, which was to bring reforms to the administration and progress to Malaysia after the 14th General Election in May 2018.

In fact, the Transport Minister said DAP had extensive discussions with the component parties of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) to reach an agreement on the collaboration.

"We also sought the views of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was still in prison at that time, and he was initially somewhat reluctant to collaborate with Dr Mahathir, but eventually agreed because he saw the need, strategically, to combine influence and power to form a new government.

"...and in 2018, it was proven to be a fruitful strategy because, for the first time, Barisan Nasional (BN) was defeated. However, we regret that after the formation of the new government, it failed to fully achieve its objectives," he told reporters after officiating the symposium on Women's Safety in Transit and Transport Industry at Bandar Sunway near here today.

Loke said this in response to the confession made Dr Mahathir in the latest episode of Keluar Sekejap podcast hosted by Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Sufian Hamdan yesterday, that he had used DAP and that DAP had also used him, to topple Najib.

Dr Mahathir disclosed this when asked about his 'inconsistent' stance when dealing with DAP and PAS.

On Bersatu's call for the anti-party hopping law to be reviewed, saying it contained critical weaknesses that could be exploited, Loke said Bersatu should be amending their party constitution instead.

He said Bersatu leadership had criticised the law, describing it as deficient and lacking a course of action against MPs who opposed their party but refused to quit, especially after four of their Members of Parliament (MPs) publicly pledged support to the Prime Minister.

"DAP also knew there were weaknesses, that's why we made amendments to our party constitution to ensure that if any of our MP or assemblyman no longer support the party, they have to vacate their seats.

"If the four MPs were DAP members, they would have lost their seats and by-elections would have to be called," he said.

The four Bersatu MPs recently pledged their support to the Prime Minister were Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang) and Zahari Kechik (Jeli).

-- BERNAMA