Yoursay: Betrayals all around, and instance karma for Dr M

YOURSAY | The whole drama was a case Mahathir betraying Anwar, who himself was betrayed by his own men.

How Mahathir lost the plot

Susahkes: Dr Mahathir Mohamad lost the plot long before the Sheraton Move happened.

After the Tanjung Piai by-election results, instead of doing a post-mortem, he brushed it aside. When Suhakam presented their findings on the enforced disappearances, he brushed it aside.

When he was criticised for attending the Malay Dignity Congress, he brushed it aside. When he was asked to deport controversial Muslim preacher Zakir Naik back to India, he brushed it aside.

The old man watched, and, for all intents and purposes, cheered former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali along while the latter was going about his meetings with Umno, etc.

Until the renegade pulled the rug right from under Mahathir's feet, he was perfectly okay with pitting Azmin against PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim, or Bersatu against DAP.

If only he had been firm or even sacked Azmin early on, then that might have put the rest, including Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, back in their place. Instead, the lion cub that he tended finally outgrew its master, and devoured him without any remorse.

Personally, I no longer give a rat's ass whether Mahathir has 112, or 114, or 130. After this mess, we no longer need him, or Mahathirism, anymore.

Anonymous 93887546720228: It was never Mahathir’s intention to hand power to Anwar.

Look at what Mahathir said when he announced his plan to set up a unity government at the height of the political crisis: “Actually, I promised that I would resign to give the Dewan Rakyat the chance to decide who will replace me. If it is true that I still have the support, I will return. If not, I will accept whoever that is chosen.”

So, yes, he would resign (sometime after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Apec). But then, someone (perhaps PAS) would move a vote of no confidence against Anwar, in which case, Bersatu would vote with Umno-PAS. This would result in Anwar losing the vote and Mahathir brought back to continue as PM.

This is not the original deal – which was for Bersatu to vote with the Harapan trio to back Anwar just as the Harapan trio would vote to back Mahathir in his first couple of years as interim PM (should there be a vote of no confidence).

The reason Bersatu/Azmin cartel leaders wanted Mahathir to continue was because their position would be untenable in the post-Mahathir regime. It is expected that Anwar would replace many of them.

So, they were protecting their own interests and positions by supporting Mahathir. When that did not go as planned, they were willing to ditch Mahathir for Muhyiddin.

The whole drama was a case Mahathir betraying Anwar, who himself was betrayed by his own men. Yes, it was instant karma for the old man.

Unspin: This Reuters piece forgot to mention one crucial plot - that Anwar was offered the opportunity to lead the backdoor government by Umno first. When Anwar refused, the opportunity fell to Muhyiddin who grabbed it with both hands.

If Harapan was to do a post-mortem, the top three reasons why they "lost" - although there is still a glimmer of hope when Parliament reconvenes in May - are:

1) Mahathir should have set a date for the transfer of power to Anwar; (2) Mahathir should not have ‘merajuk’ (sulked) and resigned abruptly; and (3) Anwar's supporters should have been more patient because Anwar did not have the numbers. Mahathir did and most probably still do.

Capo: Anwar was in first place with 92 votes. Muhyiddin was in second place with 90 votes (PAS 18 + Umno 42 + Bersatu 30) and Mahathir was in third place with 33 votes (GPS 18 + Warisan 10 + Bersatu 5).

Mahathir could have easily supported Anwar by bringing in 33 votes making a total of 92 + 33 = 125 votes, but he didn't (112 votes needed for a majority in parliament). He wanted to be PM8 (the eighth prime minister).

Mahathir had the numbers because Anwar, DAP, Amanah, and Warisan were supporting him. They had stood by him. Mahathir not only deserted them but also dishonoured the people's mandate.

HanafiahPuteh: All Malaysians have to say to Mahathir is this - "You've dug your own grave."

When he was given the chance to reform the institutions and keep to his promise for a smooth transition as agreed, he did not. So, when you are an evil schemer, you deserve to be thrown out.

That's all there is to it. Waasalam

The Wakandan: Yes, Mahathir did not want Anwar to be PM but give him credit about not wanting the kleptocrats of Umno either. Thus, even if he wanted Muhyiddin to succeed him, it would not be with Umno en bloc which included the kleptocrats.

As far as he is concerned, it was conspiracy went wrong. The fact was Mahathir has never subscribed to the vision of Harapan but merely using it to become PM and nothing beyond that.

He is an Umno man and it was likely he would be going back to Umno after purging it of Najib and the kleptocrats.

In effect, he purposely wanted to destroy Harapan in order to revive Umno, or Bersatu as an Umno replacement. Treachery, however, has its consequence.

Anonymous #33227154: I hope one day a big group of enlightened Malays will emerge and support the building of a multiracial Malaysia together with the other races. I hope Amanah, PSM, DAP and PKR will be able to govern Malaysia to make this dream come true.

If there are enlightened people in Sarawak, Sabah, Umno, PAS, MCA, MIC and Bersatu, I hope they will join the effort and sacrifice themselves to vote with their sincere minds and hearts, instead of just following the party lines.

If Mahathir is really sincere, he can join too or he will miss the boat forever. However, only he alone knows himself whether he is sincere or not. - Mkini