Mahathir's sad ending

 

What a pathetic end to Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s political influence, as his party Pejuang is wiped out in the Johor state elections. It wasn’t even a face-saving fight, as all its 42 candidates lost their deposits.

In fact, most of them were far below the threshold (12.5 percent of the vote) to keep their deposits. Even their best performer, Zam Zam Hashim, won only 4.8 percent of the votes in the Kukup seat.

For someone who once aspired to lead Malaysia as a successful Asian Tiger, someone respected globally for speaking out against powerful countries, it’s a sad finale indeed. For a 96-year-old man who probably does not have many years left in this world, it’s a mournful conclusion with little chance of any more “comebacks”.

Despite all the wrongs in his first 22 years as prime minister, he was given a second chance. Yes, many warned against “the sly old fox” joining Pakatan Harapan, but he was a necessary antidote to a dire situation. This was because Umno had craftily managed to entice PAS away from the old Pakatan Rakyat, allegedly with non-heavenly rewards of some RM90 million.

(Just RM90 million? Shouldn’t that be RM90 billion? Surely, a major political party can’t sell out their principles so cheaply?)

Pakatan Harapan leaders having a press conference after the bloc’s victory in GE14

Ecstatic victory turns sour 

Love him or hate him, he did help break through some psychological barriers, especially among Malay voters. For example, while Harapan formerly had problems campaigning in Felda areas, Mahathir attracted thousands to huge rallies there. And when Election Commission officers cut out his image from campaign billboards, it backfired big time.

So when Harapan, with Mahathir’s help, defeated the all-powerful BN in 2018, the old man was treated as a national hero, almost like a superhuman who could walk on water. Anybody who criticised him was slammed as if they had committed blasphemy.

Only Rafizi Ramli was brave enough to “tegur” or check Mahathir early on by pointing out that the senior cabinet appointments were made without PKR’s agreement, even though it was the party with the most seats. He was scolded by the public and not supported by most PKR colleagues. Only MP Wong Chen spoke up to defend Rafizi.

So, I don’t blame him for being reluctant to stick his neck out again and get back into politics now.

I remember posting on social media in support of Rafizi then, but most people criticised me, asking me not to be a “wet blanket” and “bicker” over ministerial appointments. Ah, if only they could foresee Mahathir’s plans to break apart PKR by cultivating Azmin Ali’s faction so that he could deny fulfilling his promise to hand over power to Anwar Ibrahim. That split was the key weakness in Harapan that led to the great Sheraton Move betrayal.

Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali seen leaving the Sheraton Hotel before Bersatu pulled out of the Harapan government

If only Mahathir, in the last few years of his life, had the decency to keep his word on the handover of power. If only he had the vision to look at the country’s long term future and not return to his old nasty habits of petty political manoeuvres. If only he was sincere to push through widespread reforms, instead of being an obstacle.

Then, after two years or so, he could have retired in glory as an elder statesperson, basking in the rakyat’s grateful adulation as The Man who Saved Malaysia.

Karma bites back

But he didn’t. When the Sheraton Move began, he tried to play more political games (remember the “unity government” nonsense?). But eventually, even he was outsmarted by Muhyiddin Yasin and his gang of conspirators. As the Malay proverb goes, “as cleverly as a squirrel jumps, eventually it falls to the ground too”.

I am extremely tempted to say that this is karma coming back to bite. As I’ve written previously, many of his old sins have boomeranged onto him. For example, he could not legally appeal the decision by Bersatu to kick him out of the party (even though he was the founder) because he himself had amended the law to prevent such appeals!

And while he now moans about kleptocrats like Najib Abdul Razak, he needs to reflect on how he himself made money politics a staple when he was PM the first time around. Similarly, while Muhyiddin thought he was very clever with his Sheraton Move, he finds that Umno has now turned around to betray him and destroy Bersatu.

So beware of the payback of karma! 

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad campaigning in the Johor state election

However, I at least have to credit Mahathir and Pejuang for not joining most of their former Bersatu colleagues to betray the voters’ mandate given to Harapan in the 2018 general elections.

Salvaging the mess

Even after “the rice had become porridge”, to cite another Malay proverb, Mahathir could still have salvaged something from the mess. Yes, Pejuang was a pale shadow of Bersatu but it could have still worked with Harapan.

After all, on Jan 24, Anwar had said that all opposition parties – including Pejuang, Warisan and Muda – should cooperate under a “big tent” for the Johor election.

Pejuang could have accepted this offer, like Muda did, and negotiated a few seats to contest. Surely, the party would have performed much better with Harapan’s support.

Yet Pejuang rejected the olive branch, declaring arrogantly that it was “the only true opposition party”. Talk about an overinflated ego. Clearly, the old man was unwilling to accept scraps from Harapan, led by Anwar.

But Mahathir now has to endure the humiliation of seeing his party smashed, and the pain of watching the country gradually fall back into the grasp of what he calls “kleptocrats”. Before this, he could have still negotiated for maybe four or five seats with Harapan. Now, he has much less bargaining power, if any.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak (centre) celebrating BN’s landslide win in the Johor state election

Pejuang now tries to save face by arguing that they lost because voters were not familiar with their logo. But why did Muda do much better with a new logo? And come on, Pejuang’s best logo is the old man’s face, not some strange logo that looks like a bear – or a toilet bowl.

Despite Mahathir’s various letters and campaign speeches to the Johor voters, he was ignored, regarded as an irrelevant piece of history, as BN (and the alleged kleptos) romped to a huge victory. 

“This means that Mahathir has lost his influence among Malay voters,” concludes James Chin of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute.

Let’s not even discuss the non-Malays who now despise him. When a leader who has spent his life championing and leading the Malays, only for them to turn a deaf ear to him as he nears the end of his life – well, it’s a bitter pill for the doctor to swallow.

Mahathir could have been a true statesperson who really made Malaysia great. But again and again, he chose the path of political games for short-term gains. And now, he himself can taste the sour fruits of his actions as we slide downwards as a nation.

So perhaps his sorrowful end is indeed well deserved. - Mkini

---

ANDREW SIA is a veteran journalist who likes teh tarik khau kurang manis. You are welcome to give him ideas to brew at tehtarik@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.