I may embrace Islam for reasons best known to me.
Once I’m a Muslim, I will either become a member of UMNO or PAS.
I am with the Malays and will defend their rights from either of those parties.
This article relates how Dr Mahathir Mohamad stole the election and why Barisan Nasional did not see it coming.
To UMNO Malays, I’m with you. All the way.
THE THIRD FORCE
I didn’t see this coming.
In what is likely to go down in history as “the day Malaysia stood still,” Dr Mahathir Mohamad made an unprecedented comeback as Malaysian premier after leading the strangest of bedfellows into a stunning victory, the first of its kind in the world.
The newly elected Langkawi Member of Parliament, 93, set a string of records that began with him being sworn in as the world’s oldest premier, followed by his willingness to accommodate Lim Kit Siang, a man he spent a great many years branding as racist. But the most fascinating of records – one that’s my all-time favourite – was his ability to coax the senior Lim into foregoing the rocket, a prospect even he would have laughed at just months ago.
And let’s not even go into reasons the rakyat voted Pakatan Harapan into power.
Despite repeated attempts by The Third Force to educate our people on the potency of smear campaigns, the vast majority went along with fake news dished by Mahathir and gang, failing even to stop and think what the fuss was truly about. And believe me, three quarters of those who voted Barisan Nasional out of power probably didn’t know how to pronounce kleptocracy, let alone tell you what the word meant or if it was relevant to the Malaysian story.
Yes, the 14th general election was Mahathir’s election.
The former-premier-turned-premier-again won by overwhelming Barisan with so many issues, it became impossible for Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak to spend as much time ruling as he did dueling. So overwhelming, it got to a point that the people – who, as the greatest of philosophers have long cautioned, are lazy to search for truths – became even lazier and decided it best to retire Najib for good. In other words, our people just took the fooking shortcut.
Remember the 1999 and 2004 general elections?
Say what you may, but Mahathir and his successor, Tun Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, denied Pakatan’s then permutation of loosely allied reformists from taking over government despite the hundreds of thousands who turned up at street rallies demanding UMNO’s downfall. Then, all of a sudden, the opposition triggered a Chinese Tsunami and even wrested from Barisan the control of three major Malaysian states. Now, have you ever wondered how they pulled it off?
It’s simple.
Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim was released from jail.
Full stop.
Believe me, those who were supportive of the DAP but skeptical of its administrative capabilities became convinced the minute they saw Lim Kit Siang rubbing shoulders with the PKR de facto chief, a man even the United Kingdom once hailed as being among the world’s finest economic managers. Suddenly, the fact that Anwar was a free man and could help the DAP rule made Kit Siang seem like the next best thing to Mao Tze Tong.
But the Malays needed more.
Some Muslims saw no choice but to support UMNO as Anwar was deemed an opportunist, one who would use Islam as a tool to satisfy his greed. Then, the minute Mahathir joined Pakatan, he presented the same Muslims 101 reasons why it was “ok” to ditch UMNO. Suddenly, the Malays were no longer afraid that the Chinese would rule the country by proxy, seeing that Kit Siang was willing to be “under the heels of the Malays,” what with his willingness to agree that Mahathir be made Prime Minister and all.
See how the 14th general election (GE14) was stolen?
