Dr Mahathir Mohamad dismantled our institutions, took away the independence of our judiciary and the police, emasculated the civil service, downplayed the importance of English, mooted the suggestion that Malaysia was an Islamic state, used the ISA against his critics and much more.
Therefore, would you allow Mahathir to spearhead the opposition charge against Najib Abdul Razak?
One political analyst said, "This is just a variation of "It takes a thief to catch a thief". So, it will take a dictator to know another tyrant.
"The real reason Najib is afraid is because Mahathir is a better political tactician and strategist than he.
"Mahathir was the leader for 22 years. He knows the tricks of the trade, what levers to pull, how to communicate with the rural people, how to wield the stick, how to reward civil servants and cronies.
"Najib simply perfected some of Mahathir's techniques.
"Now that they are on opposite sides, Najib wants to punish Mahathir by applying pressure, on Mahathir's inner circle and his children, and dismantling Mahathir's legacy, like Proton.
"The problems in Proton did not develop overnight. When Mahathir was PM, Najib and his cabinet were waxing lyrical about Proton. Now, Najib is behaving like a jilted girlfriend, because of their political differences."
Another political cynic said, "Mahathir may have been our first dictator, but Najib is just a poor copy.
"Mahathir's ideas were original, whereas Najib is like the kid sitting next to you, who copies your answers in an exam, and makes a hash of it.
"In August 2016, when Najib officiated at the launch of the Tangga Batu Umno division in Malacca, he stressed that he was "not a dictator and not a one-man show". A year later, at the opening of the Masjid Tanah Umno division in Alor Gajah, Najib again declared that he was "not a dictator, unlike Mahathir".
"Najib insists that he is not a dictator, too much. The more he stresses the point, the more he looks like one. The more he speaks ill of Mahathir, the more he makes Mahathir look angelic.
"If Najib disagrees with Mahathir's past policies, why doesn't he abandon them? The NEP. The affirmative action policies. The religious attacks. The dumbing-down of education and language."
In the past two years, politics has been turned on its head. Berjaya was formed and Mahathir propelled himself forward, in the fight to topple Najib. Najib will not admit it, but Mahathir is hurting him.
When the PM spends much of his time defending his actions, slagging-off the opposition, launching a tirade against his former boss and trying to justify his actions, there is only one conclusion. Najib is afraid.
Using a crude language
First. It is very revealing, when the leader of a nation, remarks "Kepala bapakau" at a public function. There are many names one could call Najib and 'prime ministerial' is not one of them.
To be crude, and to use language that most Malays, would consider being from the gutter, is not becoming of a leader.
One hoped that the MCA leaders would cringe at these remarks, but their smiling faces and the laughter of the audience showed that they are not aware of the nuances of the Malay language, or maybe, they are just as crude as the PM.
Najib may have apologised for making these remarks, but he lacked sincerity. He laughed as he said sorry. This does not excuse his coarseness.
"Kepala bapak" may be common parlance in Putrajaya, and the backstreets of the more seedy parts of KL, but it is wrong to use "kepala bapak kau" at the 64th MCA annual general assembly.
Second. At a dinner last week, Najib spent a third of his speech, criticising Mahathir. The event was organised by the United Nations Association Malaysia (UNAM) and the keynote address was called "Governance in a Developing Democracy".
Najib denied that his government had sold off the sovereignty of Malaysia to foreigners. Well, hasn't he?
We don't need former PM Mahathir to remind us about Najib's cosy ties with the People's Republic of China. Malaysia is literally being sold off to other nations. Malaysian sand is used to reclaim land in Singapore, and for construction in India. Other allegations of the "Malaysia mega-sale" include landed property, big industries, jetties, ports and rocky islands off Sarawak.
Unscrupulous employers exploit foreign workers, brought in by cronies connected to political leaders. Local workers cannot get a look-in, because they are not prepared to accept the abnormally low wages and terms.
How ironic, for Malaysians, that Mao Zedong's great leap forward into communism has been followed by Najib's greater leap into the vice-like grip of Beijing, to bail out 1MDB. One social commentator said, "Najib is behaving like a "China doll" and jumping into bed with Xi Jinping.
You may despise Mahathir, and be unable to forgive him, but please do not ignore the fact that Malaysia is haemorrhaging assets.
I am a fierce critic of Mahathir, and disagree with much of what he did; but right now, I would be interested in your Plan B if you are not prepared to use Mahathir's tactical skills to overthrow Najib in GE 14.
So, will you allow Najib and Umno-Baru to win hands down, again?
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