KUALA LUMPUR , 29/01/2019. Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) together with PPBM vice president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (right) at the press conference after chairs the PPBM Supreme Council meeting at Yayasan Selangor Tower. Pix by Malay Mail / Hari Anggara.
There have been more than ten names for possible education minister candidates.
Among the names that I have:
The older generation candidates include the prime minister himself doubling as education minister, the PM-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim, veteran Rafidah Aziz and former cabinet minister Mustapa Mohamed.
The new generation candidates include everyone’s favourite Nurul Izzah and PTPTN chairman Wan Saiful Wan Jan.
The professional candidates include renowned economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram and former UKM vice-chancellor Dr Mohd Sham Mohd Sani, both recommended by Malaysian Academic Movement (Gerak).
As for internal portfolio swap, we have incumbent economic affairs minister Azmin Ali, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah, deputy foreign minister Marzuki Yahya, and Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir.
The list can go on and on, but the probability of majority of these names is near zero.
The name of the actual candidate is securely locked in a secret chamber inside the prime minister’s head.
So long as Mahathir keeps his mouth zipped, no one will know who the guy is. And going by his customary way of doing things, he doesn’t have to discuss anything with anyone nor listen to anyone’s view.
No one can foretell the old man’s decision, because he has always acted, and thought, out of the ordinary!
However, if you were to put on his thinking cap, perhaps you may get a very near, or even exact, answer, based on his logic thinking.
Now, following the old man’s logic thinking…
1. Why Maszlee Malik had to resign.
The answer definitely is not because of Jawi. If the old man is not happy with the way the Jawi issue is being handled, he can always intervene in his capacity as prime minister. Moreover, he will never give Maszlee the axe just to please the local Chinese community.
There are two more substantial reasons: firstly, Maszlee lacks political mastery and has given rise to issues and troubles and hence the ruling coalition’s declining support rating.
Secondly, Maszlee’s school network contracts and free student breakfast scheme respectively involve the distribution of business and intra-party interests.
In view of his failed prior appointment, Mahathir’s next education minister has to be one with political experience and mastery, not to mention total submission to the chief commander and not to have any clash with existing vested interests.
While Maszlee Malik is obedient enough, the old man needs to put another more obedient man in his place.
These two requirements easily eliminate Anwar’s family and the professionals.
2. The new education minister must have PPBM background.
At such an advanced age of 94, Mahathir is not sure for how long more he can stay in power. As such, any decision he makes has to be for short term, not long term interests.
He must make sure his PPBM will remain dominant (it doesn’t matter whether the government is under PH or not). The education minister is one of the two most powerful men in PPBM’s government after the prime minister, the other being home minster. There is no way Mahathir will surrender this prized position to a different party at the disadvantage of his own.
This precondition makes all non-PPBM candidates irrelevant. With that, we only have three names left: Mustapa, Mukhriz and Mahathir himself.
3. The old man’s ultimate goal.
Mahathir’s ultimate goal is to have all the powers in his grip. This is an unchanging belief of a die-hard Machiavellian.
He must fulfil his ultimate goals for the nation and himself during the remaining days he still has the powers with him. To him, these two things are parallel. Other than himself, he feels uneasy to hand over the powers and country to an outsider.
Of course, he cannot stay in power forever. His most favourite successor must be someone closest to him and most trusted by him.
To be a Malaysian prime minister, one has to cross the education threshold. All our past PMs, with the only exception of Tunku Abdul Rahman, were once education ministers.
Mukhriz
miss a precious opportunity if he doesn’t cross the education threshold now, and next year’s PPBM elections will put him in the party’s core leadership, paving the way for much bigger thing ahead.
Because of this factor, Mustapa’s chance is almost non-existent now.
Sure enough the PM himself is fully qualified for the post, but he has very limited time and stamina to deal with the additional job duty.
In the end, there is only one name left in the list.
Mukhriz Mahathir.
–Sin Chew Daily
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