Why Mahathir did a u-turn

Mahathir accidentally let slip that DAP wants the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Kit Siang is really upset about this because he knows this is going to cost the opposition Malay votes. Worse still it is going to cost them Chinese votes as well because the Chinese know that such a move would be detrimental to race relations if the Malays view this as them losing political dominance. So Mahathir had to do a u-turn and say it was MCA and not DAP who wanted the post of Deputy Prime Minister.

PAKATAN’S GAME OF THRONES

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When it was revealed that on 3rd December 2016 Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Lim Kit Siang had entered into a secret deal (which is Mukhriz would be made the Prime Minister while Kit Siang would be the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister) Kit Siang asked those who are making this allegation to state the time, date and place of that meeting or else he is going to sue.

Actually no one said they had met face-to-face so it is silly to ask those making this allegation to state the time, date and place of that meeting. What was actually said was that after the Umno assembly on 3rd December 2016 Kit Siang panicked (because Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had said the next general election is going to be fought between an Umno-Malay-led Barisan Barisan and a DAP-Chinese-led Pakatan Harapan) and he phoned Mahathir to ask Mahathir to attend DAP’s convention the following day.

Mahathir says DAP wants the DPM post, Kit Siang denies a meeting took place, but Chin Tong says a meeting did take place

But then a week before that DAP had announced that Mahathir was not invited to DAP’s convention. This is because Kit Siang knew that the DAP supporters were not too happy about DAP’s collaboration with Mahathir and there is a danger that many Chinese would abandon DAP because of this. So Kit Siang wanted to distance DAP from Mahathir but then Najib’s speech that same day changed everything. DAP now needed Mahathir to attend their convention to give it a Malay face. Or else Najib would be proven right if the DAP convention is seen as a purely Chinese affair.

Mahathir, however, felt slighted about the earlier announcement that he was not invited to the DAP convention so he was not going to just say yes as if he is too hard-up for an invitation. So Mahathir said he would agree to attend only if Kit Siang agrees to Mukhriz as Prime Minister in the event Umno and Barisan Nasional are kicked out in the next general election.

Kit Siang was expecting this so he replied he would agree to that if Mahathir can agree to him as Mukhriz’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister. That would effectively make Kit Siang more powerful than Mukhriz. But all Mahathir wanted was for Mukhriz to become Prime Minister so he agreed to Kit Siang’s proposal, which he confirms in this video below:

https://youtu.be/t3YsgTmCDfY

Mahathir actually confirmed that DAP wants the Deputy Prime Minister’s post after all. So why does he now say he was mistaken and that it was not DAP but MCA that wanted the Deputy Prime Minister’s post? Well, it is quite simple, really. It is because if it is known that Kit Siang is going to be made the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister then the Malays would get angry and would not want to vote Pakatan Harapan.

As Rafizi Ramli said, Pakatan Harapan needs 90% of the Chinese votes and 38% of the PAS supporters’ votes to win the next general election (READ HERE: Rafizi raises the bar for stupidity). And this was why Kit Siang initially wanted to distance DAP from Mahathir (or else the Chinese will get upset and the opposition would not be able to get 90% of the Chinese votes).

Rafizi Ramli said Pakatan Harapan needs 90% of the Chinese votes and 38% of the PAS votes to win the next general election

Rafizi had already explained that Pakatan Harapan depends on the Chinese to win the next election. That means they must be very careful to not anger the Chinese: such as DAP collaborating with Mahathir. But then, as Rafizi explained, they also need 38% of the Malay voters from PAS. If not then Pakatan Harapan cannot win. So DAP cannot be seen as a Chinese party either. If not this would jeopardise the Malay votes.

Hence while the secret deal that Kit Siang made with Mahathir is going to jeopardise the Malay votes, it is not going to help the Chinese votes as well. The Chinese know that the Malays will get upset if Kit Siang were to be made the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister and this is not healthy for race relations.

As it is now the various races are able to tolerate each other although racism and religious differences do occur. But these differences can still be contained and not be allowed to spill over. But once the Malays are seen as losing their political dominance to the Chinese (who already control the economy and boast that they pay 90% of the personal income tax) the relative peace may end. So even the Chinese know that this secret deal is a recipe for disaster like what happened once in May 1969, which is why even they do not want Kit Siang to become the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

Liew Chin Tong said a meeting between Mahathir and Kit Siang did take place and he was there

DAP’s Liew Chin Tong said he was with Kit Siang during the meeting with Mahathir and that no secret deal was made between the two parties as alleged. This contradicts what Kit Siang said: which is there was no meeting. Chin Tong denies the secret deal but confirms a meeting did take place. And Kit Siang has challenged anyone who says that a meeting took place to state the time, date and place or else he will sue.

At first glance it appears like Chin Tong is covering Kit Siang’s back by denying the secret deal. But then Chin Tong also contradicts Kit Siang by confirming the meeting when Kit Siang denies a meeting took place. So is Chin Tong really trying to cover Kit Siang’s back or is he actually doing the opposite: which is make Kit Siang look like a liar. And we all know that Chin Tong and Kit Siang are not really the best of buddies.

The problem is Mahathir has a tendency to talk too much. Malays call this mulut lazer or what some would call diarrhoea of the mouth. The fact is Mahathir tersalah cakap and had let the cat out of the bag and Kit Siang is very upset. So Mahathir had to do a u-turn and say he was mistaken and it was not DAP but MCA that wanted the post of Deputy Prime Minister. If Mahathir does not do a u-turn Kit Siang might, again, distance himself from the old man and Mahathir knows his new party needs Chinese votes to make it because he cannot be assured of the Malay votes. And that is what this whole thing is really about.

As Mahathir said, Malays forget easily