YOURSAY | 'This is an offer with a hidden agenda - to make Mahathir lose Gombak.'

Dr M turns down Azmin's Gombak seat offer

Raja Chulan: Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not as dumb as Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali seemingly thinks he is. For some reason, Umno and those having the same Umno DNA often operate this way.

What Azmin did by offering the Gombak seat to Mahathir was like trying to kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, Azmin is scared of Gombak and badly wants a safe seat. He doesn’t have the guts to admit it, and therefore asked to be shifted.

Secondly, if Mahathir loses in Gombak, there will be another chance for Azmin to be picked as a prime minister if Harapan wins.

Furthermore, Azmin could easily sabotage the prime minister-designate’s campaign in Gombak, using his supporters there if he wanted to.

Knowing Mahathir, he would have by now realised how risky and dangerous Azmin can be for PKR and Harapan, and would have therefore put in place the necessary precautionary measures to contain Azmin.

Anonymous 24331438100949: This is an offer with a hidden agenda - to make Mahathir lose Gombak. Azmin is attempting to implement a plan to thwart Mahathir from becoming PM.

On another note, it is also clear that Azmin has no hope of defending the seat. He knows very well that Gombak is not a safe seat for him anymore. Mahathir already knows about this, hence his rejection of the Azmin offer.

Ong Seng Swee: Mahathir’s best bet is Langkawi. The people there owe him a great deal. Good luck to our future PM. May you repair all the damage done by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Clever Voter: It was a good gesture of Azmin to offer his seat but many questioned his sincerity.

Mahathir’s best bet is to return to Kubang Pasu. Putrajaya is filled with very contented civil servants whose votes are being watched by their bosses.

JBond: Mahathir should go for Putrajaya. It will be symbolic for the opposition to control the administrative capital of Bolehland.

Muhyiddin: Uphill task for Dr M to undo Najib's damage

Clever Voter: Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin is right. He, among others, left behind a very damaged system in the government when he was deputy prime minister, and has a duty to fix it.

Malaysia now tops Transparency International’s bribery index, based on a survey conducted among business leaders.

Left “unarrested”, we will turn into another – to borrow a Trumpism – “sh*thole nation” in no time. The rot is well spread throughout the system, yet the system of check and control is done selectively, where double standards are applied according to who is in charge.

It isn’t that difficult to change the top, but it is the habits that are difficult to remove, as these are considered a standard cultural practice in our communities.

Where other nations have improved on their standing, Malaysia has regressed to a point where the custodians even help themselves when no one is looking.

No one person can make the change. It is a collective effort, the challenge is whether voters will want this, or prefer a system where it’s easier to pay that “extra.”

Anonymous 728021502366367: Uphill task? This is the reason why Malaysians are voting to change the government. Or it’s downhill all the way.

Our children and grandchildren will have nothing to be proud of, or to look forward to. To start with, please weed out corruption from top to bottom. Look into immigration laws to reduce crime. These are obvious steps in the right direction.

We don’t expect Harapan to change things overnight. Politicians are in the business of governing long enough to know what to do if they want to do the right thing.

Anonymous_1408265047: It will take at least 10 years to undo and repair the damage to the law in this country. Most of the social laws are ultra vires and, in this, I include syariah law.

The legal system is just as bad and there must be almost total change to the people in the system. This will be a huge task and has to happen from the top down. It will be interesting to see if it happens, or will it just be a change of masters?

Having watched Selangor over the past few years, I suspect it will be the latter, with a few cosmetic changes.

Mechi: Upon winning GE14, Harapan needs to ensure that the nation’s rich heritage – which has been ignored by indolent Umno – of diversity, hard work and religious tolerance is revitalised and appreciated.

Our talents, be it in commerce, sports or business, are enormous but have been "killed" by cronyism and corruption, BN-style.

What Malaysia lacks is good leadership with solid integrity, openness and transparency. Sustainable business models are lacking.

I doubt if our entire cabinet reads, with the possible exception of Khairy Jamaluddin. But I see diligence, integrity and transparency in Harapan.

Najib and the cabinet are shivering at thought of being in the opposition because Harapan is going to grow in power and rule Malaysia.

Cogito Ergo Sum: One of the first tasks that the new prime minister must address is national unity and interracial relations.

For too long, racist and religious bigots from both sides of the political divide have had a free rein spouting drivel and engineering divisiveness among a once cohesive society.

We need to come together as Malaysians to fix all the broken things in this country. Fixing the economy but perpetuating social injustice will only exacerbate our troubles.

Spinnot: Only hypocrites talk about corruption, cronyism, abuse of power, etc, as if they were invented by Najib.

If it is undoing damage that they want, maybe they can start with the judiciary. Who was responsible for that again?

Ipoh PP: Well, Najib was Mahathir’s “pet” candidate a while ago, and the PM nurtured him. The disciple learned from the master.

Now the master has to put us on the right track, before he is called to account for his failings.

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