Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Aziz Shamsudin said today Dr Mahathir’s spat with the Abdullah’s government was due to a third party trying to control the government.

Aziz served for a long time as Dr Mahathir’s political secretary before he was appointed a Senator and later a Minister.

He said that although Dr Mahathir had criiticised Abdullah, the former premier was not against the government.

Aziz added that Dr Mahathir did it with good intention.

I noticed earlier that another Dr Mahathir’s man, the Minister of Information Zainuddin Maidin was making “strange” remarks. He had said that Dr Mahathir could have been misled by a third party.

Interestingly, both Aziz and Zainuddin did not say who the third party was.

With these two Ministers putting up their neck to speak for their former boss, it is clearly too early to say that Umno is totally united behind Abdullah.

Well, Dr Mahathir was boss to most of the present crop of Umno Ministers. Not all of them have made harsh statements against Dr Mahathir.

Will they also come out to speak for Dr Mahathir?