Mahathir Mohamad has been a political master in Malaysia for over half a century. What he managed to do in Malaysia is not an easy feat. You can see some of the major achievements below:
- The longest ruling prime minister in Malaysia for 24 years; 22 years in his 1st term and 2 years in his 2nd term.
- Mahathir handed over his 1st prime ministership to Abdullah Badawi in 2003. He then worked to depose him as early as 2005.
- Mahathir helped Najib Razak in the latter's quest to replace Abdullah. Najib succeeded in 2009.
- He however started to criticize Najib in 2014. Mahathir even worked with the opposition to throw Najib out during the Malaysian general election in 2018.
- He became for prime minister of Malaysia for the 2nd time in 2018.
- As the prime minister again, he did not deliver what he had promised during the campaign.
- Instead, he plotted to weaken of his political allies within the government. He did not want consensus ruling and tried to revert to his autocratic ways during his 1st term.
- He mooted for a unity government whereby all the political parties are to support him as the prime minister. He was however outmaneuvered by his closes deputies, Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali. Muhyiddin became the prime minister in 2020 while Azmin became the de factor deputy prime minister.
- Mahathir once again is working to oust Muhyiddin with the aim to be the 3rd time prime minister of Malaysia.
The man who yielded the opportunity to be prime minister the last time, Anwar Ibrahim, has decided not to work with Mahathir anymore. Anwar is leading the largest opposition party currently. There was a lack of fate in Mahathir within the ranks in the opposition. The marriage of convenience did not work well when Mahathir was constantly trying to stab at his own truly loyal allies from behind. It is perhaps fated that Mahathir himself is back-stabbed by Muhyiddin.
The question is whether Mahathir is still a force to be reckoned with at his age of 95? He has now failed to garner the support of all opposition parties to nominate him as the prime minister. Muhyiddin and the rulling government do not need him. Mahathir has certainly not lost his cunning political skills after looking at the last few tactics that he employed to propel himself to be the next prime minister, although he has not been successful. He is launching a no-confidence vote against Muhyiddin when the parliament convenes the following week. It is yet to be seen if he is willing to make a compromise and find his way back to the forefront of political power.
