STOP THE NONSENSE – SACK MAHATHIR IMMEDIATELY: THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WAS TO MAKE MAHATHIR ‘INTERIM PM’ – AGONG SHOULD HAVE OFFERED POST TO AZIZAH OR ANWAR AS HARAPAN HAD NOT DISSOLVED, ONLY DR M’S CABINET

The Malaysian Political Drama is finally put on TV screens, but many have little idea what is actually going on. They see plenty of political maneuvers in it, and the emotional upheavals in them is not in any way inferior to when they follow their favorite TV thriller series, whose highly suspenseful plots are akin to the political developments we are witnessing every day here.

The Drama started with the resignation of Tun Mahathir as prime minister, but no one can tell for sure when this whole thing will come to a close. While it might appear to many that things have somewhat cleared out for the time being, something unexpected may just pop up the next minute.

Right at this very hour, His Majesty Yang di-Peruan Agong is still working very hard to seek the best possible solution to keep the nation stable in the midst of utmost commotion. What interim prime minister Tun Mahathir said in his televised address yesterday proves that “The End” is yet to be seen. Mahathir is prepared to turn the tide to his favor.

Looking back at the twists over the past 48 hours, several political parties said affirmatively that they would support Mahathir to continue to be PM. Other than PPBM, all other parties changed their position merely a day later, citing various excuses. Given Mahathir’s character, he is not ready to give up just that. More can be expected from the Old Man soon.

BN and PAS withdrew their support for Mahathir on the grounds the “unity government” would include DAP, and they proposed to dissolve the Parliament for fresh elections. This has invariably messed with Mahathir’s plan and prompted PH to take the risk by nominating Anwar Ibrahim as their choice for PM.

Mahathir’s “unity government” will be a departure from the convention. He wants to exclude the leaders of all parties from his cabinet, which can hardly be accepted by the big guns at these parties. These people have fought half their lifetimes to come to the top and will simply not accept the interim PM’s eccentric idea.

PMO media and communications advisor Kadir Jasin has said, Mahathir said firmly in last week’s PPBM supreme council meeting he did not want thieves, cheaters and corrupt people in his government.

Some say Mahathir’s solution will give him an excellent excuse to get those who should have retired anyway out of politics, and pave the way for Hishammuddin Hussein, who is not holding any party post in Umno, to take over in future. He made it very clear in his televised speech that he could accept people who have left or would leave Umno, but not Umno per se. As such, even though Hishammuddin has refuted the rumor that he would join PPBM, things would not come to a rest as yet.

Meanwhile, some other people are of the view that the so-called “unity government” is only a guise to bring everyone in the Parliament to submission so that Mahathir can serve a full term with minimal opposition. Handing the baton over to Anwar Ibrahim has simply not crossed his mind.

The reversal of BN and PAS has made Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali — who have worked so hard all these months to pull the string between Umno-PAS and PPBM — the veritable bad guys. It is learned that Azmin and his gang of ten MPs are about to join PPBM, but this has yet to become a reality at stop press.

In addition, there have been rumors that Mahathir is unhappy with Muhyiddin for discussing cooperation with Umno-PAS against his will, hence his resignation as party chairman. He now says he can accept people leaving Umno to join him but not Umno as a partner in the coalition government.

Muhyiddin’s move has infuriated many in his own party, and further accentuated his conflicts with Mahathir.

As a matter of fact, politics is dirty and selfish. Someone has to be sacrificed when something goes wrong.

In view of the dramatic changes taking place in the country’s political landscape, the three PH component parties have decided to turn against Mahathir in favor of Anwar as the country’s next prime minister. Mahathir’s televised address to the nation preceding the announcements by Anwar Ibrahim and the Istana Negara will only complicate things further.

PH’s decision to demand a handover date from Mahathir last Friday has triggered an early start of the Political Drama, sinking PH into the crisis of not being able to comlplete even a single term.

By right a snap election to return the power to the rakyat should be the most optimal solution to resolve the current stalemate. That said, it is simply not the right time for an election now.

According to an online survey conducted by Sinchew.com.my, 64% of respondents do not support dissolution of Parliament for a snap election. Some 19,000 people took part in the survey within the first three hours. The opponents feel that fresh elections will not have any meaning at all simply because party-hopping will continue to happen and the new government will likely face the risk of collapse again.

Most importantly, the country’s economy has taken the brunt and will be fatally battered if all the nonsense goes on for several more months. Fortunately the economic stimulus package will still be announced on Thursday as planned, and hopefully this will help relieve the financial burden of Malaysians. Nevertheless, if political stability is not restored soonest, it will be like rubbing salt into the wound of companies which are already suffering. This is not going to be fair to them.

Please, bring back the erstwhile political stability so that everyone can get down to work regardless of political affiliation in order to lift the country’s economy out of the current doldrums.

Malaysians have grown increasingly disgusted at such political nonsense, but sadly those in politics don’t seem to see what the rakyat really want.

MYSINCHEW