Dr M flailing like a drowning man

 

As he senses the chances of Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim winding up as prime minister (PM) after the 15th general election (GE15) become brighter with each passing day, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is flailing about like a drowning man.

In the latest demonstration of this desperation, he has blamed Perikatan Nasional (PN)’s leading trio - Muhyiddin Yassin, Hamzah Zainudin, and Azmin Ali – as responsible for depriving Anwar of the chance of becoming PM in late February 2020.

That was when the Sheraton Move was launched to unseat the ruling Pakatan Harapan government of which Dr M was PM.

Mahathir claimed the Sheraton Move was engineered by this trio of conspirators to give a nascent PN, in combination with Umno, a majority in Parliament.

In other words, according to him, it was not his decision to resign that brought about the downfall of the Harapan government on Feb 24, 2020, a decision taken unilaterally sans consultation with the Harapan leadership cohort.

DAP elder statesperson Lim Kit Siang came to describe that move by Mahathir as “egregious”.

But Mahathir argues that it was the PN conspiratorial trio’s machinations and the majority they succeeded in cobbling together by March 1, 2020, that brought about the change of government.

Muhyiddin became PM on that day, a move aided and abetted by a coterie of PKR quislings that jumped ship to join Muhyiddin’s new Bersatu-dominant government.

Mahathir is now intent on espousing this version of the blur of manoeuvres that occurred in late February 2020 for a good reason.

He senses one reason for the rise of a general perception that the time has come for Anwar to be given a chance at the top post is because people feel that several PMs have been already been tried and have seemingly failed.

It’s Anwar time

So why not Anwar be given his long-sought chance of becoming PM?

In tandem with this perception that it’s about time Anwar be given this chance, the feeling has grown that the downfall of the Harapan government was because of Mahathir’s refusal to step aside to make way for Anwar, as he repeatedly promised he would.

The passage of time – it’s 33 months since February 2020 – has a way of making the nebula that surrounds incidents of the past shed its murk and become clearer.

The maxim that “The truth will out” has grown out of the conviction that time suffers no chaff on its threshing floor.

Mahathir has long feared what would happen if Anwar becomes PM.

The ostensible reason is that an Anwar premiership would lead to deeper scrutiny of the way Mahathir’s family has acquired its billions in wealth.

To avert this possibility, Mahathir, in the seventh year of his 10th decade in life, strives to resurrect a myth – that he still commands influence and will be re-endorsed by voters not only in Langkawi where he is standing on a Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) ticket but elsewhere in the country where GTA candidates are contesting.

The truth is more nearly that Mahathir commanded much influence when he led Harapan to be the government in May 2018, truly a tour de force of historic magnitude.

Then, driven by hubris, the pride that precedes a fall, Mahathir, in an astonishing turn, frittered the opportunity to bring change to a fossilised polity.

This action was what has made those who voted for change in GE14 become cynical of politics and politicians.

Now, as voters sense that yet another chance has arrived to right wrongs, they are harkening to Anwar’s call for change.

Whether this Pied Piper of change can really bring the reforms he has been espousing for over two decades is not as troubling a question as the message he heralds.

This opportunity to bring change comes but rarely in history. Mahathir brazenly wasted his opportunity.

History sometimes affords individuals a chance to redeem their legacy and have it defined not by their lapses and failures, but by their accomplishments and valour.

Mahathir had his chance – and squandered it.

Anwar is gravitating towards his, as the nation awaits with bated breath the outcome of GE15. - Mkini

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TERENCE NETTO is a journalist with half a century's experience.

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