PETALING JAYA, June 24 (Sin Chew Daily) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was a very practical person.

He said he would work with DAP in order to topple former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and the incumbent prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, despite the problems between him and the party.

'We needed one another'

During a video interview with Sin Chew Daily, the former prime minister said he and DAP as well as other PH parties were mutually dependent and they needed one another's influences in order to bring down the BN administration in the 2018 general elections.

"I needed their influences. Without their (PH's) support, PPBM would not have won. And without my support, they wouldn't win, either. We needed one another…

"I'm a very practical man. Yes, there are problems between me and DAP but more importantly I wanted to take out Najib.

"If I needed to work with DAP and Anwar, I would do so because I must bring down someone who had stolen billions from the country. He had to be toppled!

"That's why I joined hands with Muhyiddin to form PPBM. The party's principal objective was to take down Najib. If we needed to cooperate with DAP, Amanah and PKR, we would work with them in order to bring down Najib. So we did!

"But now Muhyiddin has broken the promise!"

'DAP very different now'

Tun Mahathir also said DAP had changed a lot since its inception in 1965 as a splinter from Singapore's People's Action Party (PAP).

"They used to be 'very Chinese', but now even the Malay candidates they field can win in the election!

"This shows that many Malays also support DAP.

"They are not the same as the DAP in 1965. They realized they could not go further here without the support of the Malays and would forever be an opposition party.

"That's why they would accept and would work with me."