Dr M's latest GAMEPLAN: Sowing chaos in the minds of the 'kampung' folk

Every other day you can read former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's comments on issues pertaining to Pakatan Rakyat being irrelevant, and that people should not trust Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim but must give a huge mandate to Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional  - why? So that the BN will be able to continue to play us out and siphon our nation's wealth until to Kingdom comes, is it?

Well, the question here is -  is Mahathir Mohamed living in the current world? Is he even relevant"?

As far as voters are concerned, it is a huge "NO". Mahathir Mohamed is not relevant at all. He may have a lot of money and still be able to pay a lot of lackeys to do his dirty work but he CAN be overcome. The people WILL prevail. We have moved from two prime ministers after him, so who and what is he?

Dumbos in UMNO his own fault and the result of his selfish agenda

The fact is, he is just an ordinary UMNO member who was a former Prime Minister for 22 years. His time is over but he doesn't want to let go. He feels UMNO has too many hare-brained people and he needs to show the way forward or they will be lost. He may be right there are many dumbos in UMNO but it won't be him who will lead the party back on the right track.

If anything, Mahathir will take UMNO straight to the 'Devil' due to his enormous unpopularity. In fact, if UMNO is smart, they would officially distance themselves from his racist rantings and save themselves a lot of lost votes and pain.

UMNO is in dire straits because of Mahathir. It was he who created the current situation where there is a talent and brain vacuum in the party. His intention was to make sure no one is smarter than him so that no one could oust him; hence, he attracted only followers but not leaders. If anyone showed potential their wings were clipped immediately. And this cycle to eradicate the smart ones from UMNO was carried out by Mahathir's own top aides. As they say, what goes around comes around and it has now backfired fair and square on this 'grand old man' of UMNO.

At 87 this year, Mahathir may have lacklustre leaders like Deputy Prime Minister Muhiyiddin Yassin bowing to him. Even Prime Minister Najib Razak is at his beck and call because he knows too many of the UMNO leaders' 'secrets'. Look at what he did to his immediate successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Why did Mahathir do it? Was it is the hunger to wield power and the fear of losing the limelight that made him wage war with Badawi till it weakened UMNO so much so that the BN lost its customary two-thirds control of the seats in Parliament during the 2008 election?

Desperate, he now turns to PAS to create chaos in the minds of the kampung folk

Whatever the reason, this fear of being irrelevant has forced Mahathir to eat humble pie so much so that he now wants PAS to merge with UMNO, and the two can together win the 13th general election with Malay and Bumiputera votes alone. But PAS has too many smart and educated young people in it to take the bait.

The slogan "PAS for ALL" says it all and the Islamist party's efforts to modernize have given it a new image. There is no way PAS will break off from Pakatan to please Mahathir and UMNO. Even to the conservative within PAS, to 'join up' with Mahathir would be like forming a pact with the Devil!

Knowing that PAS won't accept his lures, Dr Evil that Mahathir has been accused of becoming, is now plotting alternative schemes. He is suddenly supporting a "Hudud State" which he has in the past derided and totally rejected.

Deep down he knows such a penal code cannot be implemented in modern Malaysia because this is Southeast Asia and not the Middle East and never shall the very disparate cultures and mindsets be able to merge. Even among Muslims in Malaysia, many are openly opposed to 'hudud', which calls for outrageous punishment including amputation of limbs, beheading and stoning to death.

Yet, Mahathir is determined and evil enough to taunt and tease PAS with idea and offer of an Islamic state and 'hudud' law. To many disgusted Malaysians and Muslims, this confirms that Mahathir is the sort of person who would think nothing of selling his grandmother to save his own skin.

Mahathir's aim is to create chaos in the minds of the simple kampung folk (rural folk). His scheming and conniving mind is working overtime to push through his agenda to ensure UMNO wins, no matter that it will be at the expense of the MCA, MIC, Gerakan and the other non-Muslim component parties.

Ruthless sidelining of the non-Muslim component parties in BN

To Mahathir, parties like MCA, MIC and Gerakan are so irrelevant, it doesn't make any difference. Everyone knows the contempt he has for these 'has-beens' who were nearly wiped out in the 2008 polls. He knows MCA and Gerakan cannot garner more than 5% of the Chinese votes, unlike in the past when almost 80% of the Chinese votes were theirs and his for the taking.

In the coming 13th general election, which Najib has hinted will be in November, Mahathir knows he needs a solid mandate from the Malays and from Sabah, where UMNO has the largest number of members. He reckons this together with other measures including cheating at the ballot boxes will be enough to keep BN in power. Hence his defence of the Sabah Mykad issue for illegals which he justifies but which his critics say is treasonous. Indeed, by Malaysian law, it is treason to 'sell' citizenship to foreigners in exchange for them promising to vote for the BN.

Can Malaysians trust this King of the 'Has-Beens'? It is clear he has a hidden agenda to pursue and vested interests to protect. Can the people be fooled like the gullible ones in UMNO into believing him and his grandiose plans for the future of Malaysia?

The answer is "NO". Malaysians are smarter than he thinks. They know he must be rejected for there to be CHANGE and for change to finally happen here after 55 years of corrupt and oppressive political hegemony.

Malaysia Chronicle