MAHATHIR’S AMBITION TO STAY PM FOR FULL-TERM & AZMIN’S AMBITION TO BE 8TH PM – A COCKTAIL MORE LETHAL THAN NAJIB’S 1MDB TO MALAYSIA & ITS ECONOMY: MAKE NO MISTAKE, DESPITE DENIALS – THE PLAN TO MERGE BERSATU WITH UMNO IS UNDERWAY, WHATEVER NAJIB, ZAHID, MAT HASAN OR ANNUAR MUSA SAYS

Despite furious rumours and speculations that the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition government is about to be toppled by none other than Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad himself, the 94-year-old premier did not show up at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya where he was supposed to issue a stunning announcement of the formation of a new government.

In what appeared to be the clearest sign of a political coup by Mahathir, whose party Bersatu (PPBM) together with PKR faction aligned with Azmin Ali and oppositions UMNO, PAS, Sarawak-based GPS and Sabah Warisan would form a new coalition government called Perikatan Nasional, all the leaders of the 6 political parties were granted an audience with the Agong (King).

If the plan materialises as speculated, it would make Azmin’s betrayal like a child play. Nobody expected Mahathir to go nuclear, not after he was given a blank cheque to decide when he likes to retire. He said – “The transition will take place after APEC. There is no timeframe, no date, nothing. It is up to me whether to let go (of power) or not. That was the trust given to me by the party.”

So what has changed? Even though it seems like a victory, Mahathir knew that he has to take the bull by the horns. He could buy time until November but the PH presidential council will not be so generous when the extra 6 months expires. In fact, the so-called unanimous decision to allow him to set the date to pass the baton to PM-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim as promised was a face-saving gesture.

However, given that Mahathir could not convince the majority of UMNO Member of Parliaments to defect and join his own party since May 2018, chances are he won’t be able to do much by the end of the year after the APEC conference. Without him as the prime minister, his party will be irrelevant, and so is his son Mukhriz. Bersatu would be treated like a pariah – and even disintegrate.

Of course, Mahathir wanted to rule like Russian Emperor Peter the Great. His endgame is to merge or rejoin UMNO after Najib is sent to prison, his only option to make his party dominant and relevant to the Malay community. But time is a commodity he doesn’t have. Najib will certainly not be going to prison by Christmas next year, let alone after APEC this November.

Mahathir had tried to be more Malay than UMNO Malay nationalist party and more Islamic than PAS Islamist party. His divide-and-rule formula, which he had successfully deployed back in the 1980s to divide majority ethnic Malay and minorities Chinese and Indian, didn’t work as anticipated. He lost a parliamentary seat in Tanjung Piai by-election by a whopping 15,000 vote majority.

That was when he realised that only UMNO can offer his party Bersatu the level of Malay support in order to win the next general election. Despite playing racial and religious cards, not only Mahathir lost the Chinese votes in the Tanjung Piai election, the Malays did not swing to his party either. Hence, the only option left is to rejoin or merge with UMNO.

It was not a coincidence that the High Court surprisingly dismissed forfeiture suits filed by the government against UMNO, Wanita MCA and two others in its bid to recover money linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal about 2 weeks ago. Mahathir, who used to trumpet that UMNO was dead, had deliberately given a new breath of life to the party for the purpose of forming a new government.

Regardless whether the premier has intention to pass the leadership to Anwar or not, he has no plan to give up the most powerful position by November. He wanted to finish his full 5-year term. To hell with people who call him a man with no honour or untrustworthy. He was so determined to stay that he was willing to work with people whom he had labelled as crooks less than 2 years ago.

Yes, it was absolutely unbelievable that for the sake of clinging to power, Mahathir was willing to forgive crooks like UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and UMNO treasurer Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. Mr. Zahid was slapped with a record 87 criminal charges while Mr. Adnan has been charged with receiving RM3 million in bribes from property developers.

In addition, Zahid had insulted and mocked Mahathir with regards to his Indian ancestry – calling the old man son of Iskandar “Kutty” during the 2018 general election campaign. Now, Zahid was suddenly invited to the Palace to participate in a new coalition government. That would mean not only all his 87 charges will be dropped, Zahid could even get his job back as deputy prime minister.

But the surprise didn’t end there. GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) chairman Abang Johari Openg, and Warisan president Shafie Apdal have also thrown their support behind the idea of a new government, despite the broken promise of giving 20% oil royalty to the Borneo states, not to mention the prospect of working with a radical and extremist political party like PAS Islamist party.

Without GPS’ 18 parliamentary seats and Warisan’s 9 seats, the formation of a new coalition government would be a challenge. Clearly, the Borneo political parties preferred to work with a devil they know than a devil they don’t. In fact, leaders of both GPS and Warisan were previously part of the happy family of Barisan Nasional (BN), before the disastrous 2018 general election.

About 130 MPs reportedly have gathered at Sheraton Hotel Petaling Jaya for a major dinner following an audience with the King – suggesting that a new coalition government is imminent. Shocked, Anwar Ibrahim has admitted that besides his deputy Azmin Ali, the 94-year-old Mahathir Mohamad has betrayedthe Pakatan Harapan partners.

However, unverified message circulating social media mentions that the King prefers a snap election instead of a backdoor government being formed, hence the cancellation of a press conference from PM Mahathir. The King also advised those who wish to replace the existing Pakatan Harapan (PH) led government to refer back the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis as a guide.

Still, it would be interesting to see the impact on the stock market and the economy after the news of the collapse of Pakatan Harapan government in less than 2 years and the formation of a new backdoor government. Mahathir has until the next general election to merge his party with UMNO, failing which the same crisis will explode again.

FINANCE MINISTER