Battle royale: Who can land the knockout punch
Koon Yew Yin, Malay Mail Online
A titanic power struggle is currently taking place in the country. In one corner of the ring is Dr. Mahathir and his mainly UMNO supporters who have decided to kick the Prime Minister out of power for a variety of reasons, including the 1MDB fiasco and for personal wrong doings and unresolved scandals of which the Altantuya one tops the list.
In the other corner stands the Prime Minister with the UMNO and Barisan Nasional establishment behind him.
So far, Dr. Mahathir has not been able to win this political fight of the decade, despite having many in the audience on his side and cheering him on. Although it is still early in the battle, it looks like the Prime Minister will survive. This is because unless Dr. Mahathir can deliver a killer knock out punch — perhaps in the way of some new revelation such as from the 1MDB investigations or from the fugitive Sirul Azhar that can incriminate Najib or his family — the Prime Minister — just like Mayweather in his fight against Manny Pacquiao — is dodging and side-stepping all of Dr. Mahathir’s punches.
Najib is confident that he will still be standing at the end of the fight. He is also confident that he will be the winner because he has the parliamentary convention and rules on his side in remaining as the Prime Minister.
According to the British system, which guides our system here, mid term transitions in the Prime Minister’s position may occur when the Prime Minister resigns, is incapacitated, or dies in office. We can see that not only is Najib determined to fight all the way to the end of the battle but he has vowed not to surrender.
He has also effectively counter punched by lining up the UMNO Supreme Council and various state leaders in his corner. He has also neutralised one of Dr. Mahathir’s potential big punchers by lining up Muhyiddin, the UMNO Deputy President and Deputy Prime Minister and the man who is supposed to act as Prime Minister in a temporary capacity until the leadership of the government is determined, by his side.
How to view the big fight and what can we do about it?
How should the Malaysian audience view this fight and what can we do about it? It is my strong opinion that we should not support Dr. Mahathir or the Prime Minister.
Both leaders have been toxic for the country. We see that Dr. Mahathir is coming out with criticism of the corruption, abuse of power, bailouts, and other faults and misconduct of the Najib regime. But we all know that Dr Mahathir was responsible for an even bigger basket of dirty laundry that has cost Malaysians billions of dollars to clean up.
When we do the accounting for what the two leaders have cost the country in terms of lost tax payers money from corrupt, bad or crony-driven deals, we will find that Dr. Mahathir is presently still ahead. His list of dirty laundry includes: BMF, MAS, Proton, Perwaja and IPPs and many others. As to enrichment of family member’s Dr. Mahathir is also far ahead.
How did his son, Mokhzani, become the ninth richest man in Malaysia so quickly? According to Zamil Ibrahim, president of the party Kita, Dr. Mahathir needs to shine a light on how his children amassed so much wealth so quickly. “You can’t get this world record [in wealth accumulation] in any part of the world. Only Dr. Mahathir can explain.”
For those who want to support Dr. Mahathir, I also wish to point out that the replacement Prime Minister will have to meet with Dr. Mahathir’s approval. If they turn out to be either Muhyiddin or Zahid or even his own son, Mukhriz whose name has been brought up as the dark horse, the new Prime Minister will be equally disastrous for the country. Both Muhyiddin and Zahid have their skeletons in the cupboards and they are not small skeletons!
Let the fight continue
So I say — let the fight continue. Let it go on whether for 15 or 30 rounds. Let them fight until they knock each other out of the ring. Let’s see what dirty trick they will use to punch the other side out of contention. Let’s hear more revelations of scandals, bribes, commissions, kickbacks, bailouts, and payouts! Let’s find out which cesspool is deeper and more full of s***!
It’s the UMNO and Barisan battle royale and all Malaysians have an unprecedented ringside view.
