PETALING JAYA, June 24 (Sin Chew Daily) – On the accusation that he was the hidden hand behind the Sheraton Move which brought down the Pakatan Harapan government, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad denied he was the mastermind.

"If I was, I would have been PM now."

He told Sin Chew Daily during a recent video interview that he resigned as prime minster because his party PPBM refused to accept his views.

"I quit because my party rejected my views, meaning they had lost their faith in me.

"They wanted me to join them to pull out from Pakatan Harapan, which was what I refused to do. PH had helped me defeat Najib. If I were to join them, I would be working with Najib and not PH.

"The only thing I could do was to resign."

Prior to this, Mahathir had specifically named prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and PPBM secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin as the masterminds of the Sheraton coup.

The former prime minister also said Muhyiddin would let corrupt political "criminals" go free, just to make sure he stays in power.

"The rakyat are very angry about people who stole money but are now acquitted. I think the Muhyiddin administration has committed a lot of serious mistakes, and as such Pakatan Harapan still has a chance to win."