COMMENT | Many have written off former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying he has finally met his Waterloo in the Sheraton Move. But there is one crucial difference: Mahathir was not defeated.

He stayed away from the battle zone based on principles, as he claimed, to fight another day. His plan to form a unity government was thwarted by the failure to convene the Parliament. Anwar Ibrahim thought finally he could move in with his Pakatan Harapan to clinch the long-desired crown. That failed and they ran back to Mahathir, but it was too late.

As much as everyone hates Mahathir, no one could live without him. I see a repeat of this scenario now, in what I call Mahathir’s grand finale.

Mahathir sought to lead Harapan again, with his yet another promise of six months, but it didn’t gain traction especially from Anwar. However, his Harapan partners have different ideas as they had no faith in Anwar cobbling up a sufficient number of MPs. So they put him on a tight leash, giving him a deadline to realise his numbers to topple the government.

Just as Anwar and his supporters kept Mahathir on a tight leash with constant reminders of his two-year promise, DAP and Amanah were also constantly reminding Anwar of his promise. 

Just as matters came to a boil in the February 2020 Harapan presidential council meeting which led to the Sheraton Move, Harapan is also facing the same heat now with calls for Anwar to step down. Anwar has suspended the Harapan presidential meetings, only delaying his ultimate fate. Talk about history repeating itself...