The hypocrisy of Dr M’s ultimatum to PM

Former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad seems to have conflated the support one receives and what one does with the support. A political leader can receive support from anyone, even those from across the floor.

The important question is what one does with the support. Does one reciprocate by rewarding foe-turned-supporter out of political expediency? Going by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Cabinet line-up announced yesterday, he obviously did not reward the crooks and the corrupt by offering them Ministerial posts.

We don’t see tainted leaders from Umno like Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak, Datuk Seri Dr Zaid Hamidi or Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor being appointed Ministers. On the contrary, Umno leaders like Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin, who have a fairly decent reputation, made the cut.

If Dr Mahathir’s condition for meeting Muhyiddin to iron out differences was for the latter not to associate with corrupt and tainted leaders, then the current PM had fulfilled the prerequisite. Muhyiddin can enjoy the support of leaders like Najib and Zahid Hamidi without appointing them to key government posts that hey do not deserve due to their pending court cases.

Lest Dr Mahathir forgets, he himself during his 21-month Pakatan Harapan premiership had periodic meetings with leaders from across the aisle like Zahid and PAS president Datuk Seri Abd Hadi Awang. These were reportedly part of his maneuverings to form alliances to thwart Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ascent and to bolster Dr Mahathir’s credentials among the Malay-Muslim voters.

Hadi Awang had also expressed support for Dr Mahathir and even wanted to push a motion of confidence in Parliament. Dr Mahathir didn’t appoint Hadi a Minister for that, in the same way Muhyiddin didn’t invite Hadi or Zahid to the Cabinet.

In fact, Dr Mahathir has no right lecturing Muhyiddin about political expediency considering the former’s track record in doublespeak. Just to topple Najib in the 2018 general election, he could reach out to his archnemesis Anwar, whom he had numerous times accused of sodomy. Not only that, upon being made the seventh PM, Dr Mahathir wrote to the King to pardon Anwar not just for the sodomy accusations made in 2008 but for the earlier case in 1998 where Dr M himself was the PM.

This is not to mention how Dr Mahathir could work together with the DAP, whom he had accused of being chauvinistic and racists in the past. This was marked by the regular running battles he’s had with DAP supremos Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng in Parliament for the 22 years he was in power.

I have no doubt that Dr Mahathir had the interests of the people at heart. But after having dominated the political scene for decades, he may not have remembered clearly what he’s said and done in the past. Perhaps it’s time for him to take a break.