Muhyiddin the puppet-master and Dr Mahathir the puppet

By MT Webmaster Last updated Dec 23, 2015

All this while the impression being created is that Dr Mahathir the puppet-master is in control and is the main man behind the move to oust Najib. Actually Dr Mahathir is just being used and the real puppet-master is Muhyiddin. And this Chinese tycoon who is an adviser to both Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin for 30 years since the early 1980s helped move things from behind the scenes.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In this very complex game of politics you never really know who is the puppet and who is the puppet-master. The reason they are called puppets and puppet-masters is because one pulls the strings while the other is manipulated.

This reminds me of the story of Lenin and Stalin. Lenin was supposed to be the puppet-master while Stalin was his puppet, or history would lead us to believe. History tells us that Lenin ruled Russia for five years and then Stalin took over and ruled for another 30 years and was instrumental in defeating Hitler that ended the Second World War.

But to understand the relationship between Lenin and Stalin you need to rewind to the time of pre-Soviet Russia when the Tsar was still in power. The opposition to the Tsar were the Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, Social Democrats, and many other splinter groups, all which hated each other and did not trust one another.

Lenin, like Trotsky, basically led the Mensheviks (before be became a Bolshevik), who were predominantly Jews and Georgians. Stalin, at that time an unknown figure, supported the Bolsheviks, who were mainly Russians. Stalin himself, however, was Georgian and not Russian.

The Mensheviks believed in evolution, where you slowly convert the rakyat over to your doctrine of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people — in short a Soviet government. The Bolsheviks did not believe in that ‘slowly, slowly catch monkey’ strategy. They believed in the fast-track revolution method.

But revolutions cost money, plenty of money. So while the Mensheviks chose to fund their activities through donations from rich supporters and businessmen, the Bolsheviks chose to rob banks and trains to get quick money to fund their fast track grab for power.

Lenin was an intellectual and an orator — he could move the masses with his speeches. Stalin was a good actor and a master-schemer (he even fooled the British and the Americans). Stalin would often quote what Lenin said and quote from books he never read and philosophers he never studied. In short, Lenin was a revolutionary while Stalin was a politician. And Stalin allowed Lenin to take power so that he could then grab that power from Lenin later.

History tells us that Lenin came to power and then groomed Stalin to take over later. And once Stalin took over Lenin became his greatest enemy who, as the late MGG Pillai used to say, must be destroyed at all costs. It is believed that Stalin poisoned Lenin and that was why he died an early death. And Lenin believed he was being poisoned because he told his supporters so.

Well, that was what history tells us. But I say differently. I say Lenin did not take over and then groomed Stalin to take over later, who then betrayed him and poisoned him to death. I say Stalin groomed Lenin to take over so that the groundwork could be laid for him to take over after five years and then rule Russia for 30 years.

In short, what I am saying is Stalin was the puppet-master and Lenin was his puppet, and not the other way around. And a good politician moves in such a way that history would interpret it as the opposite. And that was why Stalin ruled Russia for 30 years while Lenin lasted only five years. It was because Stalin allowed Lenin to believe he was in charge whereas it was actually the other way around.

Anyway, enough history lesson for one day and let us fast-forward 100 years to 2015. In the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-Muhyiddin Yassin relationship which one is Stalin and which one is Lenin? Well, to understand the Stalin-Lenin relationship between Dr Mahathir and Muhyiddin you have to first know who is the Trotsky in that threesome.

What many are not aware of is there is a certain Chinese tycoon who befriended Dr Mahathir when he first became Prime Minister in 1981 and at the same time got close to Muhyiddin when he became a deputy minister soon after that. In 1986, when the then Team B faction based in Johor led the revolt against Dr Mahathir, this Chinese tycoon persuaded Dr Mahathir to neutralise the Johor-led rebellion by appointing Muhyiddin as the new Johor Menteri Besar.

Muhyiddin was scared shit. He did not want to become the Johor Menteri Besar. Johor was the vipers’ pit and he did not want to walk into Johor and get slaughtered. But the Chinese tycoon told Muhyiddin that once he is Menteri Besar he would have vast power and could use this power to neutralise Team B in Johor.

Muhyiddin must also build up a huge war chest if he wants to become the Prime Minister in time to come. And as the Johor Menteri Besar he could do that. He would need billions if he wants to have enough money to make it to Seri Perdana, at that time not yet in Putrajaya. And this Chinese tycoon would help Muhyiddin make that money, which he did (which was why in the 1990s Dr Mahathir said that Muhyiddin was his richest minister).

Many see the present move to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as something that started a year ago in December 2014. Some even see it as something that started soon after the May 2013 general election. Actually, it was something that was planned 30 years ago back in 1986.

Muhyiddin was supposed to have taken over as the Deputy Prime Minister 12 years ago in November 2003. Somehow Dr Mahathir did not want to go along with this plan and Najib was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister instead. It is said that Dr Mahathir was suspicious of Muhyiddin and did not trust him fully. So this upset the whole plan and they had to mark their time until Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could be brought down.

In 2006 it was decided that Abdullah had to go and most likely Najib would be taking over. As to who would become the new Deputy Prime Minister was not yet decided. It could either be Muhyiddin or Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

So a plan was hatched to link Najib to the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder and a media blitz was launched (in the hope that he would be disqualified and would not be taking over from Abdullah). They even alleged that the two police officers implicated in the murder — who used to be Dr Mahathir’s bodyguards and who were now (in 2003) Abdullah’s bodyguards — were actually Najib’s bodyguards, which was not so. But that spin worked and it made the story that Najib was behind the murder more believable.

In 2009, Abdullah stepped down and Muhyiddin did not make it to the post of Prime Minister. Instead Najib still became Prime Minister in spite of the attempt to link him to the murder while Muhyiddin became the Deputy Prime Minister. Then came the 2013 general election and immediately after that the move to oust Najib started.

But they needed Dr Mahathir to do the dirty work. It must not be seen as if Muhyiddin was making a grab for power. Dr Mahathir must be seen as the man who ousted Najib and then appointed Muhyiddin as his successor.

Dr Mahathir has finally realised that he was being used all along. He thought he was the mover whereas he was just being played. The real mover is Muhyiddin and he has been moving for the last 30 years. He waited 30 years and he is waiting no longer. It was now time for him to take over as Prime Minister. But they needed a catalyst to oust Najib.

They decided that that catalyst was going to be 1MDB. The Chinese tycoon fed Dr Mahathir with all sorts of information regarding 1MDB. Muhyiddin created the story of RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money disappearing into thin air and Dr Mahathir swallowed that story hook, line and sinker. Many Umno people were sent to complain to Dr Mahathir that Najib had stolen billions and unless he is ousted then Umno was going to lose the next general election.

Khairuddin Abu Hassan is actually Muhyiddin’s boy but made to appear like he is Dr Mahathir’s stooge. So when Khairuddin and Matthias Chang travelled the world to talk about 1MDB it appeared like these are Dr Mahathir’s stooges rather than Muhyiddin’s.

Last month’s suit by Xavier Andre Justo in the Singapore High Court against Tong Kooi Ong, Ho Kay Tat and Clare Rewcastle-Brown revealed much of what was going on behind the scenes. And the statement that Justo gave the Malaysian police this week has revealed even more.

Muhyiddin has never had a strong grassroots support. He depended only on deceit to climb the ladder. And in this latest move the greatest deceit of all was to use Dr Mahathir to play up the 1MDB issue to try to bring Najib down. And now Dr Mahathir knows he has been played good and proper and that it is too late to do anything about it.

Syed Akbar Ali a.k.a. OutSyed the Box is seen as allied to Dr Mahathir and as the one who fed the old man a lot of information regarding 1MDB. What Dr Mahathir did not realise is that Syed is actually working for Muhyiddin. And the information he fed Dr Mahathir was meant to convince the old man that Najib is guilty of stealing 1MDB’s money.

Muhyiddin knew that Dr Mahathir was outraged that his son lost the fight for Umno youth leader. And when Najib appointed Khairy Jamaluddin a cabinet minister this outraged the old man even more. So Dr Mahathir was ripe for exploitation. He was on the boil and only needed a reason to blow up. So they offered him the 1MDB issue to blow up.

Muhyiddin’s hands are not clean. It is just that he is a master in dirtying his hands but still make them appear clean. So the one that is seen with dirty hands is Dr Mahathir. And that was why Najib had to remove Muhyiddin. It was dangerous to allow Muhyiddin to remain in the cabinet and as Deputy Prime Minister.

Dr Mahathir is beginning to realise this. He is beginning to realise that he was set up and that the man who set him up is Muhyiddin. But it is too late to reverse. Dr Mahathir had decided to go for broke so to retreat now would be a serious loss of face. So Dr Mahathir needs to continue to fight just like Hitler did as the Russians closed in on Berlin.

It is no longer a matter of whether you can win the war. It is about you are definitely going down but you need to go down fighting and retain whatever little dignity you still have left. In time Dr Mahathir’s hatred for Muhyiddin is going to be stronger than his hatred for Najib.

Who knows, Dr Mahathir may even announce that he has seen 1MDB’s accounts and has read the PAC report and is satisfied that all his questions regarding 1MDB have finally been answered. And his only complaint against Najib would be why they did not do this earlier because all he wanted was answers to his questions, which have now been provided.

Does this sound impossible? Well, if Lim Kit Siang can call Dr Mahathir the most evil man in Malaysia and then propose that Dr Mahathir take over the running of the country together with Abdullah and Tun Musa Hitam (two of Dr Mahathir’s greatest enemies) then anything is possible in Malaysian politics.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK