“Mahathir has an endgame, and it definitely isn’t what the majority seems to be thinking”
Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
سبب سبنر محضير لتق جاوتن سباڬاي ڤڠروسي برساتو
I had already made up my mind to write this article after having finished my uploads late last night. I had sketched a mental picture of what I would say, why I would say it, what I was at liberty to say and what I needed to hold back.
But then, I received a question from one of my readers, Osman Wahid. Osman Is among the more objective of readers I have come to know and can be critical with his comments. His question to me was as follows (in Bahasa Malaysia):
“R.J.R..Minta pencerahan. . Anuar mengesahkan Tun M bukan perancang coup.dan mahu Tun meneruskan kepimpinan nya.Semua (42) MPs dari Dap signed SD memberi sokongan penuh kpd.Tun..Rungutan Tun M didlm pertemuaan nya dgn trio :AI,LGE,MS.di kediaman private nya mendedahkan keengganan nya bersama “mereka yg korup..”Siapa pula yg di maksudkan Tun ? Apa maksud tersirat Tun ?Kenapa Tun juga letak jawatan sbg.pengurusi parti nya sendiri?.Apa cerita dlm Bersatu nya ?Ada problem dgn Muhyidin ke z?.: Adakah ada satu group dalaman komponen Ph dgn kerjasama parti pembangkang yg merancang coup dgn menggunakan Tun ? Sedangkan pada 21 hb.semua sebulat suara PH majlis presiden dah setuju Tun meneruskan sampai bila2 dia suka.”
Well, Osman, here is my answer, broken down into several interrelated sections, each highlighting a specific point of contention to address what I understand is truly going on.
1. Anwar and DAP were caught off-guard and are trying to cajole Mahathir
Everything that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng have said regarding the meeting they had with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Monday is a complete lie, in that they’re truths braided with exaggerations and works of fiction.
True, Mahathir is not going to admit he is the architect of the regime change many are anticipating will happen. I am not at liberty to confirm or deny if Mahathir is truly the architect, but can tell you this much – he is not a fool to admit he architected the scheme, assuming he did.
Thanks to PPBM’s exit from Pakatan Harapan along with Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and 10 other Members of Parliament (MPs) from PKR, Anwar and Lim were caught completely off-guard. They’re so panicky, they’re willing to tell you that pigs can fly and that the dish ran away with the spoon, perhaps even that Mahathir is a Reptilian in disguise from another world.
Anything, as long as they appear victims. To convince Mahathir that they have ‘repented’ and regret the many instances they gave him a hard time, they’re spraying perfume on his name, hoping that he softens up and returns to Pakatan Harapan with Azmin and gang.
They know they have nothing to lose. The worst that can happen is if Mahathir denies their stories and brands them liars. But they’re already at rock bottom and don’t miNd telling you lies at the risk of getting caught. They already know they’re going to have to fight Mahathir should the latter refuse to return to Pakatan and can continue to spread those lies as if they were truths.
So ignore everything that they’re saying for the moment, as nothing that comes out of their mouths seems to be important or has any impact upon anyone.
2. Why did Mahathir resign as PPBM chairman?
This is a very, very good question and something I am not at liberty to discuss in depth lest I compromise anyone or deliver a false impression. I’ll try to paint a rough picture though based on what I know and think is the ultimate endgame. You can then use your imagination to complete the picture based on what you yourself know or think is the truth.
That said, there are two distinct reasons why Mahathir chose to resign, one of which will be the focus of this article.
Remember the 14th general election? Some months later, many began suspecting that Mahathir had planted himself in Pakatan Harapan to teach the Malay-Muslims a lesson by letting them see how cruel the DAP can get and how obsessed Anwar was with power. There is level of truth to this, which explains why he practically gave the DAP a free hand to do whatever it wanted and even agreed to appoint Tommy Thomas as Attorney-General.
The plan, I am told, was to let the Malay-Muslims suffer for two years or so before collapsing the Pakatan Harapan led government by leaving the coalition with the right number of MPs.
True or not, many speculated that Mahathir was after UMNO, that he would swallow the party whole by first deregistering it before getting the majority of its members into PPBM. According to proponents of this theory, the plan was to then turn PPBM into “UMNO Nasional” before renaming it UMNO once assets of the ‘real UMNO’ had been transferred.
But none of that happened, true?
That’s because proponents of this theory were either master propagandists or those who believed unverified ‘truths’ from ‘well placed sources’. Even I advocated this theory at one point. But once you decide that the only info you can trust is the stuff that comes out of the horse’s mouth, you’ll begin to see just how manipulative or inaccurate your ‘well placed sources’ can be. Obviously, Mahathir’s endgame was not to swallow UMNO whole.
Likewise, the endgame was never to become Prime Minister once more just to take revenge on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. Now, I’m not going to go further on what I think Mahathir has in store for Najib or why he went after Najib as it is none of my business. All I can say is this – there definitely is an endgame to all this, and it definitely isn’t what the majority seems to be thinking.
3. What is Mahathir’s real endgame then?
Azmin has dragged 10 PKR MPs out of Pakatan Harapan. I am told, more will leave PKR to join Azmin once Mahathir makes his next move, so you can expect another 15 or so MPs to leave the party in coming weeks. But let’s just stick with the existing 11 for the moment.
Let’s assume that Azmin, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Haji Abdul Hadi Awang betray Mahathir and team up with Sabah and Sarawak MPs. This would be a near-impossible feat to accomplish, though nothing is truly impossible in the world of politics. Under the circumstances, Sabah and Sarawak would be able to tolerate PAS simply because Azmin and his MPs are on board.
So what would Mahathir do?
Well, one option would be to save the DAP and Anwar by agreeing to re-enter Pakatan Harapan with PPBM on condition that Anwar stops pressuring him to resign. Technically, Anwar would no longer be able to apply that pressure, simply because Mahathir did fulfil his promise by resigning before the full parliamentary term was up. Besides, both Anwar and the DAP can never forge a working relationship with PAS and are desperate to bring Mahathir and PPBM back on board. Now do you understand why Mahathir has yet to rubbish Guan Eng and Anwar’s claims regarding what happened during the meeting at Mahathir’s house yesterday?
He is simply keeping his options open.
Mahathir has been in the world of politics for far too long and knows just how fluid and unpredictable things can get. He knows precisely how to arrange his chess pieces to checkmate his opponents at every juncture. Should he return to Pakatan Harapan with PPBM and agree to turn Anwar into Deputy Prime Minister, the MPs who left with Azmin would likely return to the fold en masse.
They know that Mahathir would not hesitate to turn Anwar into Prime Minister prior to the 15th general election just to get back at Zahid, Najib, Hadi and Azmin. If I am aware of this, so would GPS and WARISAN MPs be, all of whom would refrain from supporting Muafakat Nasional. Seriously, why would Sabah and Sarawak ever support an Islamic agenda when they could easily mend ties with Anwar and be allied with the DAP, a pro-evangelist concern that could keep Islam ‘in check’?
It is a no-brainer that the two parties would enter terms with Mahathir before hopping on board, either by joining Pakatan Harapan or by forging a loose alliance with the coalition, delivering it a very comfortable majority. Zahid is well aware of this, as are Azmin, Najib and Hadi. They know that Mahathir will never sit still once he is betrayed and will do whatever it takes to get back at them. Why do you think the Agong decided to turn Mahathir into the interim Prime Minister?
His Royal Highness knows that Pakatan Harapan isn’t ‘exactly’ damaged goods if one were to look beyond the here and now. Think of it this way – Mahathir has gotten Team Zahid and Team Pakatan this far and is carefully observing what they’re up to. There is no turning back for either team as that would piss their supporters off to Kingdom Come. If Team Pakatan cannot bring Mahathir back to its fold, Anwar’s supporters would hold a grudge against him for hounding Mahathir regarding the transition issue.
Likewise, should Zahid and Hadi betray Mahathir, the Malay-Muslims would never forgive them for foiling his plans to ‘burry’ (cantas) Anwar and the DAP for good. Therein the endgame – for Mahathir to save Zahid and Hadi’s neck, he wants to know how sincere the duo is about Malay unity and is waiting for Zahid to offer him something. It is that something which ultimately decides the future of Malay-Muslim politics.
I’m not sure if you ‘caught’ what I’m trying to say, but in every gamble, there has to be collateral. Mahathir isn’t foolish enough to hop into an arena blindfolded and hope to be surrounded by angels from Harlem. He obviously has thought this through and through and knows precisely what he needs to unite the Malay-Muslims. If you get my drift, you’ll be able to figure out why he decided to resign as PPBM chairman.
Anyway, this is my take on things. I’m not saying I know what’s going on, and neither am I saying I don’t. I’m simply saying what I think needs to be said and what I am at liberty to share for the moment. There is more to the story, though I think it’s best you ask the questions and I answer them accordingly. For now, let’s just label this article ‘Part One’ and see if there is a ‘Part Two’, ‘Three’ and so on.
Great job, Osman.
