Atuk Dynasty - there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip

Malaysia-Today (extracts):

Mahathir: Nation’s Interest Or Family Legacy?

by Mohd Hafizan Amran

There was little surprise when Mahathir’s blue-eyed son, Mukhriz Mahathir, was named as a Deputy Prime Minister candidate for “Pakatan Harapan Plus”. After all, Mukhriz has long dabbled in national politics – although his last name seems to have been quite a baggage to carry through the years.

Mahathir had always claimed that it has never been his intention to create a “legacy” in the local scene. He had numerously touched on the subject of his children’s massive wealth, for example, as one that is as a result of hard work than the affiliation with the family name itself. But the reality is hard to ignore when the accumulated wealth of Mirzan, Mokhzani and Marina totals up to more the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of over a hundred countries.

The legacy factor is highly relevant Malaysia’s political and corporate landscape. As accumulating wealth is no longer a concern for Mahathir’s billionaire family, the real question now is if Mahathir can have a successor to his decades-old career in national politics. The most obvious answer to that seems to be Mukhriz, who had not only lost to Khairy for an UMNO Youth’s chief post, but also having been kicked out from Kedah’s Chief Minister’s office – twice.

Of course Mahathir had planned for his dynastic rule of Malaysian politics. But when he was in ABSOLUTE control (1981 - 2003) he preferred his sons to be making wealth rather than diving into and dwelling in the scum pool of Malaysian politics, for the partner of strong politics was enormous wealth, and vice versa. Besides, what was there to worry about, for wasn't he in TOTAL control?

Mahathir was then, so to speak, overly-confident (not just overconfident), thinking there'd be sufficient time for him to groom his son (the one chosen as the political heir) as the future PM of Malaysia. Thus he kept them out of politics (and into wealth making), until towards the latter stage of his career when he brought Mukhriz in.

In his dynastic planning he thought he could control AAB and then Najib, imaging he would use them as, at best 'mentors' but in reality 'seat warmers', for sweet Boi Boi.

Much to his consternation he didn't think of powerful influences in AAB's and Najib's lives, KJ and Rosmah respectively. To cut short Mahathir's arrogant hubristic but effed-up story, those two 'influences' upset his 'control' of his so-called 'successors' (and btw, hasn't it preposterous, bizarre and stupefyingly pompous-arrogant for Mahathir to claim Najib was his 'successor'?).

They had plans of their own

T'was Mahathir's arrogance he failed to see they didn't include making Mukhriz numero uno

T'was too late to salvage and repair valuable time-loss, though it has to be said Mahathir is a man with incredible strength of purpose, fierce unremitting hatred (invoking bitter-memories-fueled vengeance) plus of course very deep pockets to never ever give up for Boi Boi - even now he's scheming to ensure Boi Boi and not Anwar or Najib become a future PM.

But alas for him, seeing matters as they now stand, he might have just left the golden window of opportunity just too late. But then, with such a man full of hate-driven strength, we'll never know just what rabbit (or cobra) he'll pull out of his hat.

The DAP has always been avariciously compliant to Atuk but Anwar has had enough - that's a vital 39-points cog which absence will be fatal to Atuk's last-minute "7th Cavalry" charge to Boi Boi's rescue.

Hang on Boi Boi, Papa is almost with you

Who is to blame but none other than himself, for leaving matters until too late, all because of his arrogance, pomposity and self-confidence that he could/would continue to control his "successors".

As I have often written of Anwar Ibrahim, I'll now write of Mahathir, "Atuk, there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip".