The battle lines have been drawn

“Long before Dato’ Seri Mukhriz Mahathir was sacked from UMNO for breaching party discipline, the former premier had already discussed with the senior Lim the possibility of establishing a Third Force and a new party to house UMNO renegades”

THE THIRD FORCE

Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) may just have drawn the battle lines. Yesterday, the blogger, who writes for Malaysia Today, posted a coded message that appeared to tell Lim Kit Siang this – quit talking, start acting.

The posting followed a report by Malaysiakini that quoted Kit Siang as saying he would sue the media over claims he received RM1 billion from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) Chairman, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“I have directed my lawyers to take out a test case to sue the media which printed lies and defamatory material about me, like receiving RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir so that Bersatu could join Pakatan Harapan.” 

The senior Lim was alluding to the content of an article published by Malaysia Today on the 30th of September 2017.

In the article, RPK alleged that Kit Siang undertook in a quid pro quo with Mahathir to withhold evidence from a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), established to investigate forex losses suffered by Bank Negara in the early nineties.

That made sense, considering that the scandal threatened to derail Mahathir’s efforts to destabilise UMNO as it involved RM31.5 billion that dissipated right under his nose. It is therefore conceivable that the former premier entered an agreement with Kit Siang to shield himself from scrutiny by the authorities.

But the agreement wasn’t just about the RCI.

It had also to do with Mahathir being made chairman of the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan. Now, if you’re thinking that the chairmanship of the coalition is something the former premier discussed with Kit Siang only recently, think again.

Long before Dato’ Seri Mukhriz Mahathir was sacked from UMNO for breaching party discipline, Mahathir had already approached the senior Lim on the possibility of establishing a Third Force and a new party to house UMNO renegades.

Part of that plan came to fruition on the 9^th of September 2016 following a decision by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) to legitimize PPBM. The only thing left for Mahathir to do then was to hijack Pakatan Harapan in an effort to turn the opposition coalition into a Third Force.

But even that mission has now come full circle.

According to RPK, Mahathir offered Kit Siang RM750 million to assume a commanding position in Pakatan Harapan and to earn the senior Lim’s silence on the Bank Negara scandal. According to the blogger further, another RM250 million is due for Kit Siang should the senior Lim succeed in arranging a safe seat for Mukhriz, presumably by convincing the DAP, Amanah or PKR to set aside such a seat for Mahathir’s son to contest.

I find this development very intriguing. It is left to be seen if Kit Siang will go ahead with a lawsuit against the media or choose to stay silent on the matter.

Chances are, and from what I’ve been told, the senior Lim will choose to bring pressure to bear on the DAP’s number one target for intimidation, Utusan Malaysia.