Nanyang Siang Pau

's highlights of nomination day included an eye-catching line that read 'Mahathir snubbed'. The story was about the former premier being barred from entering the nomination centre in Kubang Pasu.

In other words, having relinquished all his official posts, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is now nothing more than an average Joe, at least when it comes to voting.

But barely five months ago, the entire nation was engulfed in a suffocating atmosphere of sadness and loss. It was the first transfer of leadership in 22 years, and perhaps some one-third of Malaysians had grown up knowing only Mahathir as prime minister.

The mood was so sentimental that Malaysia resembled a nation in mourning. Yet the press and the media had to rein in the overwhelming sense of 'bereavement', for immediately after the retirement of Mahathir came the glorious entry of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

It was a time of sadness and joy. And many, myself included, remained sceptical as to whether or not the most famous doctor in Malaysia would get off the political arena completely. After all, he had been the nation's focus for more than two decades and, towards the latter part of his premiership, increasingly at the centre of international controversy too.

A good number of political pundits and observers expected him to be pulling the strings behind Abdullah for sometime to come.

Waning influence

Five months on, the wariness of Mahathir being the backseat driver is fast disappearing. After that rather discourteous line in Nanyang Siang Pau , I became more convinced of his waning influence.

True to form, Mahathir put the minor setback behind him in no time and hit the campaign trail. It was rumoured that he had wanted to visit Terengganu and Kelantan, but was held back by the Umno leadership for fear that it would be counter-productive.

A Mahathir putting up a brave face was hence seen only in Barisan Nasional's (BN) safe territories such as Sarawak and Perak. To his credit, the Bapa Pomodenan (father of modernisation) was acutely aware of his unpopularity with the Malays and was willing to step down so Umno could be saved.

Just before nomination day, the Chinese press reported that Mahathir had advised those who hated him to vote for BN for he is now no longer prime minister.

Thus, although the Malay and the English media have been stressing on the 'Abdullah factor', that PAS was routed because of the soft, gentlemanly, clean and amicable approach of the new prime minister, but what they actually implied was that Mahathir, for all the changes and progress that he had brought to Malaysia over the last two decades, was deeply resented by the Malays.

Clay victory

With him gone, PAS lost its biggest bogeyman and was soundly defeated - if the entire electoral process has indeed been close to being free and fair. So, the old-time theory that Umno is invincible thanks to the 4Ms: Money, Machinery, Media and Mahathir, remains valid. For without the graceful yet reluctant exit of our longest-serving prime minister, Umno could still be in troubled waters.

And the Chinese press has been rather less restrained in conveying such views. Since the election results were known, the respective Chinese dailies came up with their own assessments but they all agreed that the former premier was one of the most significant contributory factors to Abdullah's splendid performance

It was more of a verdict on Mahathir (and to a certain extent on the firebrand PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang) than Abdullah, as political analyst Poon Wing Keong mentions in the Oriental Daily .

Mahathir's retirement from active politics has enabled the public to realise that PAS' victory of 1999 was made of clay.