Tun Mahathir Mohamad (Mahathir) was the prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, when he was the president of Umno (United Malays National Organisation), the dominant party of the then ruling regime, Barisan Nasional (BN). He was known for his authoritarianism and tendency on abuse of power and alleged corruption during his rule. His political shrewdness and tactical ability were equally well known.
The opposition alliance, Pakatan Harapan (PH), was battling BN in the 2018 general election in Malaysia (GE14). Mahathir was victimised by BN joined PH. He was offered to lead PH, in the absence of Anwar Ibrahim who was jailed by BN Government through trumped up sodomy charges. Mahathir led PH to victory and replaced BN Government for the 1st time after 61 years of BN rule.
Mahathir did a good job in swaying support of PH supporters and some of BN's supporters. He was then sworn in as the prime minister which was part of the PH pre-election agreement. Many in Malaysia had hoped that he would do good to the country considering his age at 93 then. He surely wanted to leave a legacy to be remembered for years to come and become a legend after becoming prime minister for the 2nd time.
However (the sad part is that there is this however), after spending almost 1 1/2 years on the job, he did nothing but to retreat into his old self with the same old political tactics to benefit not the country but his son, his close allies and his party.
He has since destabilised the component parties in PH, especially Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP), at the same time, strengthened his Bersatu party. The below are tactics that Mahathir has resorted into thus far:
Bias in selection of cabinet ministers
Mahathir was choosing more candidate from his party as cabinet minister than necessary. His Bersatu party was new and lacked talent but that did not stop Mahathir from using his prerogative as a prime minister to select inexperienced and mediocre candidates from his party to be cabinet ministers. Look at Maszlee Malik, Mohd Redzuan, Rina Harun and Syed Saddiq. PH members gave Mahathir the benefits of doubt but you can see what these ministers have done so far.
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| He publicly cried about school condition, scholarship for students, education for students with special need, and even a movie |
Destabilising PKR- Azmin Ali's homosexual affair (allegedly)
The police force under the control of Mahathir did not pursue the authenticity of the video and identification of the alleged persons (Azmin Ali is a cabinet minister) involved in homosexual anal act, which is illegal in Malaysia. Azmin is favoured by Mahathir as an opponent to Anwar Ibrahim, the president of PKR. Multiple sources have since confirmed the authenticity of the video and the likeliness of the alleged person committing sodomy to Azmin Ali. Mahathir once claimed to abhor sodomy. He investigated and jailed Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy 20 years ago. As for Azmin, there was much hoo-ha about the investigations on the person who released the video,but nothing on Azmin Ali. Criminal or Whistle-blower should be investigated and charged?
Weakening DAP- Khat implementation
Khat is artistic Arabic writing to depict Islamic teaching. It is different from Jawi which is the writing used by the Malays in Malaysia before the adoption of Roman alphabets. Jawi is influenced by Arabic writing but not the same. Many non-Muslims in Malaysia were sceptical about the implementation of Khat writing in Chinese and Tamil schools. There was the no practical need of such writing to burden the students who are already learning Malay, English and Chinese/Tamil writings. The implementation of Khat was none other than Mahathir's tactic to weaken DAP whose support base was primarily Chinese and Indian ethnic Malaysians. Maszlee, the education minister, who cry as much as another weak leader from BN called Wee Ka Siong, would not have pushed through Khat teaching without Mahathir's manipulative hands behind him.
Cracking PH but not Bersatu
Mahathir, through his close ally, Daim Zainuddin had struck a deal with Lynas behind the scene to allow it to continue the processing of rare earth. Daim's aide admitted this. None of the cabinet minister knew what deal was struck. The decision to allow Lynas to renew its license and operate came as a big surprise to many Malaysians. PH's manifesto was to shut down Lynas. Mahathir's stroke of mastery political skill by ignoring PH's election manifesto had weaken PH overall except for Bersatu. Bersatu was never against Lynas as it is a splinter party of Umno which allowed Lynas to operate. The people were upset with PKR, DAP and Amanah with the decision by this PH government. Lynas is an Australian company that could not get a license to process rare earth in Australia due to its toxicity to the environment.
Daim is known to travel around to strike deals on behalf of the government without the knowledge of the cabinet ministers. The deals included East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) with China, etc. He takes instruction directly from Mahathir. Mahathir was apparently back to his authoritarian style after less than 6 months in power for the 2nd time.
Mahathir is also a hypocrite who refuses to ratify International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and Roman Statute that prosecutes perpetrators who commit genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression, but he cry foul of alleged discrimination against Muslims in Myanmar and around the world. Discrimination against non-Muslims in your country and the rest of the world is ok with you?!!
This prime minister who is 94 year old now has frequently told people how he has been working 18 hours as a prime minister. One cannot help but to think that what he has been working on 18 hours a day is for Mahathir (and son), his close allies and his party, but NOT for Malaysia. Read this
For the producers of M for Malaysia (Mahathir's granddaughter and daughter of Mahathir's close friend), please get your perspective right, the reality is M for Mahathir. Leave this country for someone genuinely want to save it and make it great! Please do not make it too late for those Malaysians who are younger than you. Perhaps M for wolf in sheep's skin.
