Dr M’s “do as I say, not as I do”

On Monday (14 Dec), ex-PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad held a joint-media conference with his archenemy Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. The two time PM lamented about how current government leaders are caught up with endless politicking, to the detriment of the people.

The irony in his remark is jaw-dropping because Dr Mahathir is the one who is guilty of the same, if not worse.

Let’s start with his ouster as the seventh PM. From Day One, the man who got rid of ex-premiers Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Datuk Seri Najib Razak have been on a campaign to oust his successor Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

First, he tried to use the courts to overturn his sacking as Bersatu chairman, which he had voluntarily resigned from in the first place, before retracting. When that failed, he and his allies including his son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir set up Pejuang with the expressed purpose of toppling the Muhyiddin administration. Isn’t that the kind of politicking Dr Mahathir had wanted the rest to stop?

Not content, he wrote a letter to the then Dewan Rakyat speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff seeking to table a no-confidence motion against Muhyiddin Yassin. This was at a time the country was at a critical juncture in his fight against Covid-19. But that did not seem to bother Dr Mahathir as he was more interested in making a comeback in a historic third stint as PM.

Ever since, he’s been sniping at the government, mostly in a political fashion with the expressed intention of overthrowing Muhyiddin, once his trusted ally, especially prior to the last general election.

In June, when Pakatan Harapan couldn’t agree on who its PM candidate was going to be, he publicly “withdrew” himself from the race, just to scupper Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s chances to be PM. As a replacement, Dr Mahathir nominated Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Afpal.

In October, the 95-year-old man who ruled Malaysia for close to quarter of a century said he would consider running in the coming general election due to numerous requests for him to do so.

And on the eve of the crucial Third reading of the Budget 2021 vote in the Dewan Rakyat, where Muhyiddin’s fate hangs in the balance, Dr Mahathir called on MPs to reject the bill. Not even being subtle about his intention, he said this would allow him to stake a claim on the PM’s post and form a “unity government”.

Whatever happened to the earlier pledge to back Shafie as Pakatan Harapan’s PM-designate? Or was that just a show too?

And ironically, Dr Mahathir had the gall to accuse current government leaders of busy politicking when he himself is deeply engaged in the process that is distractive as it is destructive.

Dear Tun, it is YOU who should stop the politicking!