Want another betrayal, Harapan? Embrace Dr M and Muhyiddin

 

With the Parliament being dissolved earlier this month to make way for the 15th general election, several academicians and analysts have urged the opposition to set aside their egos and work together to take on the Umno-BN coalition.

Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion and we respect differing views, even if these views sound unpalatable to us.

Having said that, I feel that I must offer a rebuttal to economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram and political analyst Mohammad Agus Yusoff.

Both of them urged the opposition parties to unite, with Agus urging Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, Gerakan Tanah Air, Muda and Warisan to form an electoral pact and take on BN.

My dear intellectual giants, in an ideal political scenario where we have highly-principled leaders riding on celestial flying horses and unicorns to bring forth glad tidings to mere mortals like us, that would definitely be a delightful scenario.

But dear ladies and gentlemen, let us be honest with one another. Malaysian politicians are notorious for lacking a moral compass and infamous for backstabbing one another – with even allies not spared.

And you are urging Harapan to work with the two topmost backstabbers of them all – former prime ministers Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin.

Remember the Sheraton Move? I guess Malaysians do forget things easily.

After Harapan won the 2018 general election and formed the government, Mahathir wasted no time in undermining the very coalition that he had led to victory.

Betrayal and frustrated voters

Remember how he personally ensured reforms promised under their manifesto got stalled?

Of course, we can also blame the top Harapan leaders for not taking the nonagenarian to task for his erratic behaviour but the point is… who in the right mind would want to have him around them again?

Mahathir, in my view, got a rare opportunity that not many get, which is a second chance. He was mandated with another opportunity to right all the wrongs made by past leaders – including himself.

But instead of doing the right thing for the country, he went back to his old ways and took a golden shower from voters who believed in him.

And remember, Mahathir was the mastermind behind the Sheraton Move and the idea behind it was simple – to renege on his promise to hand over the reins to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

Now let’s take a look at Muhyiddin. While we understand Mahathir’s motivation in double-crossing Anwar as he was bent on denying the latter the prime ministership since the 1990s, what was Muhyiddin’s motivation?

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak

It is simple. Muhyiddin was motivated by greed and lust for power.

After getting booted out from the government by then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2015, several Harapan leaders took great pains to “rehabilitate” the man and got him to join their fold.

Even when Muhyiddin was undergoing treatment for cancer, the Harapan leaders were there to lend him support. In fact, leaders like Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong took great effort to convince other leaders from his fold to accept the incumbent Pagoh MP despite many having reservations.

Pick allies carefully

And how did he return Harapan’s generosity? He stabbed them in the back via the Sheraton Move and went to work with the very party that humiliated him in the first place – Umno.

Muhyiddin’s treachery did not work that well for him as Umno kicked him out from Seri Perdana last year and now, he is set for retirement after GE15. Umno will make sure of this!

Enough of history. What I’m trying to get at is both of them cannot be trusted one bit.

Academician Jomo Kwame Sundaram

For argument’s sake, let us assume Harapan does work with Mahathir-led GTA and Muhyiddin-led PN again. Are there any guarantees that the two would not do a number on Harapan again?

Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me. Well, I think Harapan has already fallen into the “shame on me” category. If they trust Mahathir and Muhyiddin once again and get shafted, perhaps all Harapan leaders should just retire and walk into the sunset collectively.

Academicians like Jomo and Agus must understand one more thing. If Harapan does embrace the duo again and suffers another betrayal, it is the party leaders who would face the voters’ wrath.

No voter will demand Jomo and Agus’ heads on a silver platter, figuratively speaking of course, as they can easily hide under the “we are just analysts and academicians” argument.

As for Harapan, my only suggestion for them is to work with PSM (which has proven to be a valuable ally since 2008) and thread carefully with Muda.

Even if Harapan does not win GE15, it is okay. At least, you people did your best, given the tough circumstances.

And if the people want Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to become our next prime minister, let it be. Just don’t complain later when the country becomes a basket case in the near future.

For elected leaders are merely a reflection of the people who voted for them. - Mkini

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G VINOD is a member of the Malaysiakini Team.