Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Mahathir-Muhyiddin's Machiavellian Moves - More Mafulat-ish Manoeuvring?


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Watch Out Zahid Hamidi! – Muhyiddin Could Sacrifice You In Exchange For Mahathir’s Support



The drama is about to conclude. It has to because Mahathir is already 94 years old. If newly crowned PM Muhyiddin Yassin is to survive until the next 15th General Election, which must be called by 2023, Mahathir will be 97 years old. Sure, he had proven himself as the world’s oldest prime minister. But his mental agility and alertness is fast degrading consistent with his advanced age.

Both Mahathir and Muhyiddin could be staging the best drama everyone has ever seen in the history of the country. Mahathir on Sunday (March 8) revealed that PKR President Anwar Ibrahim was not qualified to become the next prime minister, despite his promise to hand over the premiership to Anwar. Yes, like Najib Razak, it seems Mahathir is quite a remarkable liar too.

Now that Muhyiddin had “suddenly” betrayed Mahathir and “accidentally” became the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia (Muhyiddin recently claimed he didn’t want to become a prime minister), Mahathir can heave a sigh of relief that PM-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim might no longer be able to walk the corridors of power. Anwar has to fight his own battle for the premiership.





But the climax of the drama isn’t about Anwar. It’s about what will happen to Mahathir, Muhyiddin and Mukhriz at the end of the blockbuster movie. It’s also about what will happen to the bad guys – Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan, Bung Moktar and Azeez Abdul Rahim. Will Muhyiddin and Mahathir eventually make up, with Mukhriz on his path to take over the premiership?

Despite claiming that he has at least 114-majority in the Lower House of Representative, Prime Minister Muhyiddin reportedly was seeking a meeting with former premier Mahathir. The desire to meet the old man was so urgent that Muhyiddin had sent a letter to his former boss. The purpose, of course, was to get both men to unite and work together in peace.

That can only mean two things. First, the “panicked” Muhyiddin wanted to beg for Mahathir’s forgiveness and convinced him to join his new backdoor government called Perikatan Nasional. The premier knew that the old man is still very influential, especially in the rural Malay area. And the old horse could still create a trail of destruction like the Coronavirus, if he likes.





Second, Muhyiddin was merely following the script so that Godfather Mahathir could somehow, mysteriously, be convinced to return to Bersatu, the party he founded. Again, the usual pretext of Malay unity and dignity would be used for the return of Mahathir and Mukhriz to the big happy family. That would leave opposition Pakatan Harapan speechless, demoralised and disarray.

However, playing hard to get, Mahathir said he would only consider a meeting with Prime Minister Muhyiddin on one condition – UMNO leaders tainted with corruption must be gotten rid first. That means Mahathir will be willing to work, even to the extent of returning to UMNO (through a mega merger between Bersatu and UMNO), if those corrupt politicians are out of the party.

PM Muhyiddin is scheduled to unleash his Cabinet at 5pm later today (March 9). It appears that the new Cabinet could be without all the bad guys – Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan, Bung Moktar and Azeez Abdul Rahim. If it’s true, then the premier could be using this as a carrot to entice Mahathir – “See, I didn’t include those people you dislike in the Cabinet so you can come back.”





Of course, there were speculations that Muhyiddin will not appoint anyone as deputy prime minister for the time being. That means he is reserving the powerful post for someone. It could be for Mukhriz – or even Najib or Zahid – depending on the political situation. It’s a clever plan to make everyone fights tooth and nail to prove their loyalty to Muhyiddin.

However, considering Mahathir has in his possession of 6 MPs and influence over Sabah-based Warisan’s 9 MPs, not to mention the indirect influence over opposition Pakatan Harapan’s 92 MPs, chances are high that Muhyddin would sacrifice all the UMNO corrupt leaders like Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan, Bung Moktar and Azeez Abdul Rahim in exchange for Mahathir’s support.

Yes, UMNO President Ahamd Zahid Hamidi should stop grinning from ear to ear even after his party is part of the backdoor government. The Java-immigrant could be sent to prison anyway because Muhyiddin needs Mahathir more than him. By sharing power with some UMNO warlords, the party will be split between their loyalty to Zahid and the gravy train loaded with contracts and projects.





Muhyiddin has already used the excuse that Zahid, Najib and other corrupt UMNO warlords cannot be appointed to the Cabinet because of their criminal charges. And the UMNO president, with his “IQ of a carrot”, actually thought he could get back his deputy prime minister post after he clears his name at a later stage in the Kangaroo Court of Perikatan Nasional backdoor government.

The appointment of Idrus Harun as the new Attorney General does not only create a perception that the new prime minister is serious about fighting corruption, but also to convince Mahathir and possibly to cut off Zahid from UMNO. With Zahid sent to jail, the party will be leaderless hence creates an opportunity for the merger of Bersatu and UMNO.

As of the time this article is being written, the crude oil prices plunge a jaw-dropping 30% to US$30 a barrel. Muhyiddin will be having an extremely tough time managing the country’s finance and budget. He had chosen the worst time to grab power through a backdoor government. Arguably, he would be the bad guy if the Malay community suffers as a result of a coming recession.





Even after one week, with the exception of Singapore and Indonesia, not a single, powerful and influential country recognises Muhyiddin’s backdoor government. Western countries, especially the United States, United Kingdom, the European Union and even China have yet to endorse his regime. That will put further pressure on the country’s already sagging economy.



5 comments:

  1. i am not that convince mahathir want his son to take over the premier, mahathir never raise his son to any strategic position when he is in power, from pm4 to pm8, u can see how lky n lks do it.

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    1. Mahathir left Mukhriz's political fate until too late - he was so arrogant that he thought he could make AAB and Najib nurture Mukhriz into a DPM position even after he has retired, but those two PMs eff-ed him

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    2. I thought one of the principal grounding for Atheists is that they only accept what is physical and provable, and not invisible beings.

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  2. https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/chinas-premier-li-congratulates-muhyiddin-on-his-appointment-as-8th-pm/ar-BB10YF9q?ocid=spartanntp

    Beijing congratulates Moo.

    I suppose they have an understandable excuse, they have been busy focusing on resisting the Coronavirus.

    The US State Department is definitely taking a wait-and-see attitude with Moo....the Kleptocracy funds seized from Jho Low and other sundry crooks have been held back , committed to be paid to Malaysia but now to make sure they don't just flow back to a reborn Kleptocracy.

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  3. U think pas will just sit down n eat popcorn ka...aiyaaa...like this got balls call political analysis ma

    ReplyDelete