YOURSAY | On tape, Bersatu’s pullout was just a matter of when

YOURSAY | ‘Mahathir appears to have planned to pull out of Harapan from the beginning.’

Leaked audio reveals 'Muhyiddin entrusting Dr M' to decide on Harapan exit

Tango Bug: A man with a voice that resembled Bersatu President Muhyiddin Yassin’s is heard in a recording saying:

"We need to think about the biggest question in our (party's) history, that is (getting) out of Harapan, and moving to the coalition (sic) but we will still be the government, a government led by Bersatu. That is important."

It appears that this recording actually confirms that Bersatu had already decided to pull out of Pakatan Harapan knowing full well that this would lead to a change in government.

But as long as Bersatu remains at the forefront, all is okay. When Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as PM, he tried to set up a coalition of MPs led by himself. Fortunately, he couldn’t get enough MPs as minus the Harapan MPs, the rest were just too incompetent or questionable.

Mahathir appears to have planned to pull out of Harapan from the beginning, so the accusation is true.

Zun Nuun: What did Mahathir say about Bersatu's pullout of Harapan?

He said ‘why should we pull out when Harapan is still giving me full support, we should wait.’

If you read between the lines, you will realise that he actually didn't disagree with the pullout per se. He only disagreed with the timing of the pullout.

So there are two things here - the agreement on the pullout and the disagreement on the timing of the pullout.

So why does Bersatu need to leave Harapan? The reason is quite obvious. Looking at the massive erosion of Malay support from Bersatu since Harapan took power, it's a foregone conclusion that they will be totally wiped out in GE15 if they were to stay on.

If Bersatu goes down, Harapan will also go down. Umno will return to Putrajaya together with PAS. That means Umno’s Najib Abdul Razak and the questionable politicians will also return to resume their kleptocratic career.

Bersatu would have completely failed in achieving their mission of replacing Umno and preventing the return of Najib and friends. That is a disaster not only for Bersatu and Harapan, but for the whole of Malaysia.

On the timing of the pullout, Mahathir didn't agree with doing it then because he had a promise to fulfil - the handing over of the premiership to PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim.

He's not one to break his promise unprovoked. So unless he was forced to resign, he firmly believed Bersatu should wait.

Why did Muhyiddin want to pull out immediately instead of waiting until after the handing over of reins to Anwar?

Again, it's quite obvious. To him, the moment Mahathir resigned as PM, Bersatu is just another small party with 26 MPs, 13 of which are actually from Umno.

Without Mahathir as PM, they will immediately lose their huge bargaining power to make deals. So it has to be done while Mahathir is still PM.

But instead of Bersatu, it will be Umno who will take the lead in Perikatan Nasional (PN) since they have a larger number of MPs. Once that happens, Bersatu can no longer control the situation and it will very likely see the return of Umno.

Anonymous 182736736490: Mahathir’s intention to betray Harapan was perhaps when he had no choice but hand over power to Anwar and then force a vote of no confidence in Parliament in which Bersatu would vote with PN to oust Anwar.

And when the deed is done, he would be back as PM.

Anonymous_1371: Indeed, Mahathir had a change of mind only as to when to exit Harapan. Not a change of heart. The lie was only as to when to exit. It doesn't negate the fact that he still planned to exit. He still planned to betray the rakyat.

One may say that Harapan was weak to accede to his demands to stay on as PM for as long as he liked (probably if he had his way, it would be until his death). But I believe that Harapan decided to give in to him so as not to betray the rakyat's mandate at least until the 15th general election.

Don't ever forget that after the Sheraton Move, whilst things were still fluid, he refused to come back to Harapan and refused to attend the Harapan presidential council meeting despite other allies visiting him at his home to persuade him.

Anonymous_158781: Yes, no matter what, one thing is clear - Bersatu already planned to betray Harapan. Not only betray Harapan, but also the people that voted for them.

They have already forgotten why Bersatu exists. Now it’s only about power. No one cares about the country and people.

From day one, Bersatu never planned to keep the promise for the transition of power to Anwar. If people like this continue to play politics, our country won't develop. People will become poorer. Only the politicians will get richer.

Kim Quek: Deducing from the leaked audio recordings, it is entirely possible that Bersatu’s withdrawal from Harapan has not been officially and legally agreed to by Bersatu’s supreme council until today, since the council has not officially held any meeting since the one on Feb 23, during which, Mahathir was apparently entrusted to decide whether to withdraw from Harapan, according to the audio recording.

Bersatu’s withdrawal may hence be deemed illegal. It is up to members of Bersatu to lodge a complaint to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on this supposed illegal withdrawal and pursue legal redress through the courts.

Muruga: Harapan should stay clear of Mahathir. Forget the no-confidence motion with Mahathir as there aren't enough numbers and stop fooling yourselves and the rakyat.

Harapan should build a base in Sabah and Sarawak or form a coalition with Warisan’s Shafie Apdal if it can't get a foothold in Sabah. It should strengthen its base in Sarawak and prepare for the coming state election.

It is a blessing in disguise that PN is the government and not Harapan right now. The Covid-19 pandemic will last for a few years before a vaccine can be developed and distributed.

The economy will be worse in another year or two, and the rakyat will witness the kleptocrats’ mismanagement first hand. - Mkini