Very few people wanted Mahathir to lead the opposition – again – and bring back the legitimate government of Pakatan Harapan (PH). Some think Mahathir cannot be trusted to lead the opposition, but is welcomed to join the Opposition benches. Most people wanted Mahathir to retire, for real, because his 22-month horrible leadership was responsible for the collapse of the PH government.
So, the biggest question being argued now is should the now-collapsed Pakatan Harapan government continues to work with a 94-year-old fox called Mahathir, who actually has never denied his evil intention of leaving the PH coalition (so that he and his son Mukhriz could rejoin the corrupt UMNO party after getting rid of some crooks). It was about the right timing to leave.
To the people who wanted Mahathir to go fly kite and play marbles in Pakistan, and never shows his face again, obviously they have lost their trust in the old man. The fact that this group of people is still frustrated with the former premier goes to show how unpopular Mahathir has become. But write off the man at your own peril. Nothing is impossible in politics, especially UMNO-Malay politics.
To the people who wanted Mahathir to lead the Opposition again, believing that only he can wrest back the government from backdoor Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who had betrayed and toppled his own PH government, they either do not trust Anwar’s leadership or they are “old birds” who knew the simple meaning of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
In the May 18 Parliament session, where PM Muhyiddin cowardly and shamelessly locked down the central institution of democracy from allowing a vote of no confidence motion against his government, it was revealed that the backdoor leader has only razor-thin 113 out of 222 MPs support in the loosely glued “Malay-only” Perikatan Nasional government.
On its own, Mahathir’s faction is like some harmless mosquitoes. However, armed with 9 MPs support from Sabah-based Warisan plus UPKO (1), Parti Bersatu Sarawak (1) and Independent Baru Bian (1), the old fox’s bloc commands 17 MPS. And together with 92 MPs (DAP 42, PKR 39, and Amanah 11) from former ally Pakatan Harapan, the bloc is lethal – 109 opposition MPs.
That is why Muhyiddin’s top secret mission is to buy and bribe Shafie Apdal’s Warisan party. If Sabah collapses, all the 9 MPs will most likely switch sides and Mahathir, and opposition PH for that matter, is game over. It certainly doesn’t help that Sabah politicians possess muscular, long legs, providing the super ability to leap and jump at extraordinary speed (figures of speech, of course).
Capitalizing on the release of Riza of money laundering charges linked to 1MDB scandal, where former PM Najib’s stepson is required to return just US$107.3 million out of US$248 million as part of a settlement, allowing the crook to keep the remaining of the loot, the furious Mr. Mahathir, despite his advanced age, has promised “very big trouble” for Muhyiddin administration.
On the contrary, Anwar Ibrahim has not demonstrated, let alone inspired, that the fighting spirit is still burning bright in either his party or himself. Perhaps he was demoralized and is still licking his wounds, after his crown was snatched by Muhyiddin. As he runs around the stadium with his “opposition leader” trophy, it was Mahathir who proactively and aggressively pushed for a no confidence vote.
Heck, left with only 39 MPs after the defection of 11 MPs aligned with former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, it would be a miracle if Anwar can keep his party intact without any more defections until the next general election. Anwar is partially blameable for overly depending and trusting Azmin over the years, looking the other way as his trusted lieutenant sweet-talked him.
Like it or not, without Mahathir’s bloc of 17 MPs, the Pakatan Harapan coalition’s strength is only 92 MPs – short of 20, the minimum 112 seats required to form a simple-majority government. To make matters worse, thanks to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s big mouth, the coalition had offended Sarawak-based political alliance of GPS, which has 18 parliamentary seats.
On the other hand, if Muhyiddin government is seen as unstable and under pressure of a collapse, the reverse is true. In actuality, there’s no right or wrong answer as to whether PH should work again with Mahathir. It depends on how desperate PH wants to take back its legitimate power – immediately or wait until the next general election, which is about 3 years away.
What does Pakatan Harapan have to lose working with the devil again, since Mahathir is doing all the heavy lifting? Call Mahathir whatever you like, but the damage has been done. There is no point crying over spilt milk. The egoistic old fox will not admit his mistakes. How much more damage can he do that he had not already done on PKR, DAP and Amanah?
Pakatan Harapan does not necessarily need to work with the devil again if they are not in a rush to snatch back its power. But even if it chooses to work with Mahathir in the next general election again, it has to make sure PKR, DAP and Amanah grab all the winnable seats so that they can win enough seats to form a government on their own. Any extra from Mahathir is considered as a bonus.
Against a devil like UMNO-PAS-Bersatu (faction of Muhyiddin), you need a bigger devil like Mahathir. While Anwar likes to win the beauty contest fairly, Mahathir is a ruthless man who does not play by the rules. The old man cheats and is willing to burn down everything to ensure no one gets what he could not get. UMNO-Malay politics recognises no principles, only power and positions.
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