Mahathir the happiest man: Part 5
Mahathir won the 1987 great contest by paper thin majority and it clearly showed the force against him were very formidably redoubtable.
In fact, many were talking about the votes being rigged by Sanusi Junid, the Secretary General of UMNO, but let that be personal thing to Sanusi and let us not even mention it.
TR, as perfect gentlemen went up the stage to congratulate Mahathir and called for everybody to close rank and to go forward in the party’s struggles but Mahathir did not reciprocate for that gesture.
TR then called all leaders who were in his team both the ones who won and lost in the election to give some good advice and to do what they should do being in the losing team.
TR advice those in his team and who were still in the cabinet to resign as the group failed to secure the mandate from the delegates to go for a change.
As a perfect gentlemen and perfect democrat, he was in the opinion that going against Mahathir was a crudely real illustration of no confidence to the leadership and going to the delegates was to get the mandate to replace him (Mahathir).
Since the delegates were not giving to him (TR) and the team the mandate, it is always proper that his team should gentlemanly resign and that is the practice of real democracy, the Westminster like.
Except for Rais Yatim, the rest did not heed all the advice of TR and chose to remain in the line-up of cabinet and the government. Rais resigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instantaneously.
