What do former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim have in common? Actually, more than you can imagine.
Both are veteran politicians, with egos that need massaging. Both champion Islam and the Malay cause. Both need the Malays to further their political ambitions.
Both exploit the non-Malays. Both are poor judges of character. One can't choose his successors. The other surrounds himself with unsuitable types. Both think they are right, and both may as well have been born deaf.
If Mahathir had listened, he would have pushed through the reforms like abolishing the tolls, that would have reassured the rakyat that change was on the way.
If Anwar had listened, he would have sacked his deputy Azmin Ali at least a decade ago, but for reasons of his own decided against it.
Let's say that you borrow someone's car and discover faulty brakes, so you tell him about the problem. He refuses to listen and crashes, injuring members of his family.
Imagine that the car represents Malaysia, the driver is Mahathir and the family members are the rakyat.
Are his critics, whose warnings he failed to heed, responsible for the crash? No!
Let's say that Mahathir is driving with Anwar and a few passengers. Their journey along typical Malaysian roads is fraught with hazards. Vehicles jumping red lights, cyclists and pedestrians crisscrossing the road, mat rempits (illegal motorcycle racers) performing stunts, and speeding lorries overtaking recklessly.
The old man tries to focus, but Anwar is busy backseat driving. All of them get into heated discussions about the handover. The driver is distracted, the car crashes. Who is to blame? Anwar? Mahathir? Or you, for telling them off?
Whilst both Mahathir and Anwar were embroiled in the succession issue, in breezed the dark horse, Muhyiddin Yassin, with his own plans. A backdoor government was installed only because Mahathir and Anwar had left the door unguarded.
Mahathir was unceremoniously unseated, and Anwar's dreams of becoming PM vaporised. The blame game started. The politicians felt betrayed, but none felt that they had betrayed the rakyat.
From the start, Muhyiddin took the initiative and went swiftly into action. Despite successive by-election defeats, Pakatan Harapan remained complacent.
Today, the police have swiftly rounded up activists like Ambiga Sreenevasan and Marina Mahathir for organising a democracy gathering. If only they had been this efficient searching for pastor Raymond Koh, or Indira Gandhi's kidnapped daughter.
Harapan dragged its heels when getting rid of Umno-Baru's draconian laws, and now, we fear for the witnesses in the high-profile corruption trials and the whistleblowers whose testimonies were crucial in bringing the guilty to justice.
Disgraced former PM Najib Abdul Razak, his lawyer and Najib's spouse, the former first lady of Malaysia, delayed their trials using tricks ranging from dog bites to dodgy medical certificates. The rakyat could see through these sham excuses but our learned judges could not. What's next?
Harapan failed to push through their policies, and blamed the "deep state". If civil servants were instrumental in blocking efforts for a meaningful change, laws should have been made to get rid of them. Civil servants do not have a job for life.
The rakyat wondered why DAP was so quiet and did not censure their coalition partners. Like many non-Malays who are not allowed to reach their true potential, DAP is doomed if they do and doomed if they do not.
Some irresponsible Malay politicians and religious leaders have scared insecure Malays with the claim that the Malays are not in control of the government, and that if drastic action is not taken, they will lose all of their rights, their way of life, their identity and in time, become strangers in their own land.
The saddest remarks have come from Malaysians who helped their MPs secure victory in GE14. Some had set aside a percentage of their salaries to help their MPs plan their campaign. Others organised venues, managed crowd control and provided refreshments.
Many claimed that soon after GE14, their calls were unanswered and the MPs' political aides built walls around their bosses. Requests to meet were rejected and pleas to help resolve a particular community or personal issue often fell on deaf ears. Frustrated, many contacted me to complain about the ingratitude of the Harapan MPs.
Various lackeys warned me not to criticise their bosses, whilst others tried to discredit me by telling Malaysians that I spread fake news.
In 2018, reporter Susan Loone wrote about politicians sidelining her after they were drunk with success at GE14.
When they were part of the Opposition and needed their voices to be heard, reporters like Susan would quietly acquiesce. Will the MPs come crawling back now?
Malaysia is a failed state and the clue is that few countries have congratulated Muhyiddin's "success" in becoming the eighth prime minister.
The irony is that Mahathir has watched his Wawasan 2020 disintegrate into farce, and though his critics may rejoice that the "Mahafiraun is gone", we should not fear his return; however, we should fear the revenge of the frustrated Malay extremists and the return of Umno-Baru's reign of terror.
Malaysia will not climb out of the abyss until the rakyat is willing to accept the most capable PM, irrespective of his race or religion.
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