Mukhriz: one bullet, two feet

By MT Webmaster Last updated Oct 11, 2016

Mukhriz did not know that Mahathir is attempting to hammer out a peace deal with Najib. So he opened his mouth and said the wrong thing and that put the talks in jeopardy. Mukhriz is proving to be a disaster so Mahathir may have to put his money on Mokhzani instead to save the family fortune and build the family dynasty.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Yesterday, Mukhriz Mahathir said he does not know whether to laugh or cry in response to Annuar Musa’s statement that he was welcome back into Umno if he wants to ‘come home’.

I personally know Annuar, and have known him since the 1980s when he just an officer in SEDC Kelantan. Whenever we bump into each other, although very rarely, we still hug, Arab style. The last time I met him was in Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s house back in 2007.

Anyway, Annuar, being the savvy and seasoned politician that he is, was just opening the door for Mukhriz to say something positive. (The Malays call this main sepak raga: you lambung so that the other played can sepak). Instead, Mukhriz not only shot his own foot, he shot Mahathir’s foot as well — one bullet, two feet.

A politician never burns all his bridges. Even Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not do that. He always leaves at least one escape route. You never march with no turning back and with only victory or death ahead of you. This was what Napoleon did in 1812 and Tsar Alexander I of Russia showed Napoleon the folly of his do-or-die strategy.

So all Annuar was doing was he was leaving a door open for Mukhriz — which is the most prudent strategy at the moment for Mukhriz in the absence of anything more tangible ahead of him. And a good politician would not close that door and burn his or her bridges.

In short, as the Malays would say: jangan cerai talak tiga — meaning making things final. But then this is what Mukhriz did and when Mahathir found out he went into a rage and screamed for Mukhriz to be brought before him, dragging and kicking if need be.

Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Ali was so worried that the old man would, yet again, land up in the IJN that she gave Mukhriz the evil eye — and if looks could kill Mukhriz would have been buried this very morning.

Actually, I could say the same thing as what Mukhriz said: I don’t know whether to laugh or cry regarding his stupidity. And his father, Mahathir, was so speechless he could neither laugh nor cry even if he wanted to.

This proves Mahathir never tells Mukhriz everything. This Boboi is so green that he does not know when to keep his mouth shut. So Mahathir deals with Mukhriz on a need-to-know basis.

It is because Mukhriz does not know how to keep his mouth shut that the whole world now knows that Mahathir was behind the sabotage of 1MDB’s IPO and that he used Bank Negara to achieve this. If not we would not have known about Mahathir’s role in sabotaging 1MDB and the reason he did so, as revealed by Haris Che Mat.

In fact, Haris has challenged Mukhriz to swear on the Qur’an that this is not so (READ HERE).

Then we had the United States Justice Department and the US Attorney General announcement on 20th July 2016, which Mukhriz and his hangers-on ‘celebrated’ in Bangsar with cigars all round. Unwittingly, Mukhriz revealed that he knew what was going to happen before it happened because Mahathir is behind it.

Then, on 26th July 2016, when they plotted their press conference, Khairul Azwan Harun made his police report and caught all of them with their pants down. (READ HERE).

The former MACC chief, Abu Kassim Mohamed, panicked and went running to the Prime Minister’s office (but failed to meet him) while Abdul Gani Patail, the former Attorney General, went MIA (missing in action) because he knew that the game was up.

So Mahathir knows that he has to treat Mukhriz on a need-to-know basis. With Najib’s Boffin Boys being able to make so many successful counter-moves and pre-emptive strike, clearly someone or some people are talking, whether wilfully or unwittingly. Nevertheless, either way is harmful so now Mahathir keeps his cards very close to his chest.

I have not been able to speak to Annuar Musa yet, however, knowing him, other than opening the door for Mukhriz, he could also have been setting a trap for Mukhriz knowing that Mukhriz would walk right into it. Annuar ‘smells’ that Mahathir may no longer have any options left so the one and only route open to Mahathir would be to make a deal.

I have been receiving a number of messages from my deep throats and inside sources over the last few days telling me that Mahathir is trying to make a deal with Najib, Mahathir is sending a middleman to meet Najib, Mahathir has asked Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to talk to Najib, and so on.

Every day I receive tons of information, but I have to be very careful with all this information. I have to check and re-check the information I receive because even if Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah himself tells me something and Anwar Ibrahim confirms that information as true (like the information regarding Rosmah Mansor being at the scene of Altantuya’s murder) that may not necessarily be so.

I suppose one needs to learn the painful way (which I did in 2008). So even though a number of sources told me that ‘Mahathir is trying to make a deal with Najib, Mahathir is sending a middleman to meet Najib, Mahathir has asked Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to talk to Najib,’ and so on, I KIVed this info and you may have noticed that over the last few days I never wrote anything concerning this.

Now, Annuar Musa is very close to fellow-Kelantanese Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. So, if that information is true (and I am not saying it is), that means Annuar would know what many of us do not. And, assuming this story is true, it would make sense for Annuar to lay a trap for Mukhriz by ‘inviting’ Mukhriz back into Umno (just speculating here, okay?).

Knowing Mukhriz, his ego would never allow him to stay silent. He would reply and whatever reply he gives would kill him. If he says ‘thank you but let me consider’ he will die and if he says ’no way in hell I will go back to Umno’ he will also die.

What Mukhriz should have done was either remain silent or go talk to his father first and ask what he should say. In the event it is true that Mahathir is trying to make a deal with Najib it would be best to say nothing. If you close the door then it would awkward for Mahathir to continue talking to Najib.

I mean this is just like DAP closing the door to PAS by talak tiga and today Anwar says they must first talk to PAS before talking about a new and bigger opposition coalition. So what does DAP now do, look for a Cina buta? And now Mukhriz also has to look for a China buta after saying, “We are here to stay. Umno’s time is up.”

Mukhriz made it very clear that his agenda is to destroy Umno and Barisan Nasional. It is a do or die mission. So he either destroys Umno and Barisan Nasional or die trying. After declaring there is no longer any turning back, he has no choice but to go forward and face whatever is ahead of him, even hellfire.

But that is a young Chico talking, a boboi with a chip on his shoulder. Mahathir at 91 and with very few years to go cannot afford this suicide mission. There are many more things at stake here. Egotism does not put power in your hands or money in your pocket. It just destroys you and shatters your dreams. And Mahathir’s dream is to save his fortune (now in the hands of trustees, proxies, nominees and cronies) and to build his dynasty with his son as future Prime Minister.

Mahathir first tried the direct-to-the-top method but it failed. And it failed because he is no Lee Kuan Yew and his son is no General Lee Hsien Loong. Furthermore, Najib refused to be Mahathir’s Goh Chok Tong and play mentor and nursemaid to Mukhriz (a crucial ingredient for the plan to work).

For sure, Mahathir is no Kuan Yew

Mahathir’s biggest mistake is that while he had many issues in which to hit Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with (something like ‘ten major sins’ or Sepuluh Dalil), he had only one issue against Najib, which is 1MDB.

Apart from choosing 1MDB as the leverage because Mahathir had nothing else to use if he did not use this, 1MDB was also an icon or symbol of Najib. I mean it is like it you want to bring down Mahathir you hit Proton because that is the icon or symbol for Mahathir.

When Tengku Razaleigh made his move to oust Mahathir, he did not use or sabotage Proton as the leverage although he could have. And that was because if he hurts Proton then he would hurt Malaysia as well, although Tengku Razaleigh did think that Proton was a mistake.

Mahathir, however, has no qualms about hurting Malaysia by hurting 1MDB. He went all out to sabotage 1MDB just so that he could hurt Najib even if Malaysia gets hurt in the process. This is the glaring difference between an Anak Raja and a pseudo-Malay. Mahathir will blow up an entire passenger jet just to kill one person on board.

And Mahathir’s attack on 1MDB was not really an attack on anything of strategic importance. It was just that 1MDB carries Najib’s name just like Proton carries Mahathir’s name. So Mahathir wanted to destroy the pride of Najib just like if you attack Proton it is about destroying the pride of Mahathir.

This was the same mistake that Hitler made when he attacked Stalingrad. That city was of no military or economic importance to Russia. It was merely the pride of Stalin because it carried his name, the only significant thing about Stalingrad.

So Hitler wanted to take that city or destroy it in the process because then that would be akin to destroying the name and pride of Stalin. The problem is Hitler made many decisions based on pride and ego. And that was his downfall. Mahathir did not learn from this and he, too, made many decisions based on pride and ego.

Maybe it would be most apt to say that 1MDB is Mahathir’s Stalingrad. Stalingrad was the beginning of the end for Hitler and 1MDB is also the beginning of the end for Mahathir.

So Mahathir has only two choices left. Fight to the end like Hitler and then commit suicide together with all his key people (his sons included) like what Hitler did. Or sue for peace and try to negotiate a deal for your three sons, which is what Mahathir is now trying to do.

Of course, Mahathir needs to give the impression that he is not finished yet and still has some fight left for him. But then he knows that the height of the battle was in July 2015, and from then till December 2015 he was just fighting a running battle like during the last days of the Third Reich.

By January this year the tide had turned and the hunter became the hunted. The final deathblow came in February 2016 when Mukhriz was axed as Menteri Besar on the 3rd and Mahathir resigned from Umno on the 29th.

After that Mahathir went downhill and never recovered.

Siti Hasmah’s tears said it all: the day Mukhriz’s life ended and the Mahathir empire collapsed

So now Mahathir has one choice left. Does he want to sit in his bunker with his three sons and commit suicide? If not then he needs to save whatever little there is left to save. And that would mean kowtowing to Najib and admit defeat. Najib is not a vindictive person so Mahathir still has hope. Najib would not destroy Mahathir’s whole family the way the old man destroyed Anwar.

The ball, as they say, is at Mahathir’s feet. However, before Mahathir could make up his mind as to where he wants to kick the ball, Mukhriz opens his mouth and let’s the air out of the ball. So that deflated ball may now be worthless.

So Mahathir may have to drop Mukhriz entirely and work on Mokhzani instead. Mokhzani has proven to be the brighter bulb in the chandelier. But then the SC is investigating Mokhzani for insider trading and there is every chance he may be arrested and charged. So Mahathir has to sort that problem out first. Once Mokhzani is charged it will be too late.

While Hitler sat in his bunker contemplating suicide, six years of his life must have flashed before him. But he realised too late the mistakes he made and there was nothing he could do to correct them. Mahathir has not reached that stage yet but he would soon if he does not figure something out fast.

Mahathir failed to learn from history as to what pitfalls to avoid. And this was why Najib easily deflected his moves and punished his mistakes. Mahathir likes shortcuts and fast-tracks. He thought that since he managed to make all his sons instant billionaires within just two or three years, he can also make Mukhriz an instant Umno Vice President followed by Deputy Prime Minister and then Prime Minister.

Now Mahathir realises he has lost the game of strategy. So he now must resort to the game of diplomacy — which means he would have to lick back his own spit by making a deal with Najib.

The deals with Lim Kit Siang and Anwar Ibrahim failed to work out. In fact, Anwar is even talking about bringing PAS back into the opposition coalition, which is going to upset PAN and DAP. Does that mean Anwar wants to close down Pakatan Harapan (which is what would happen if Anwar agrees to go to bed with PAS)?

This way Pakatan Harapan is never in a million years going to rule Malaysia. And that would also mean Mukhriz is never going to become Prime Minster through the opposition. So how else is Mukhriz going to become Prime Minister if not through Umno and Barisan Nasional? And if Mukhriz continues bumbling like a village idiot, Mahathir may have to dump him in favour of Mokhzani.

I suppose at this stage we should sing, “Even Syed Akbar and all Mahathir’s morons couldn’t make Mukhriz Malaysia’s PM.” (sung to the song ‘Humpty Dumpty’)

For some people time is no longer on their side, especially to build a new dynasty with your son as paramount leader

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK