YOURSAY | 'Far too many people have become gullible to whatever Mahathir says and does.'

ChuenTick: Malaysiakini columnist P Gunasegaram, I am in a dilemma. As a matter of principle, I agree with you totally.

Come off it, PKR and DAP, where are your guts? You folks are just giving Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad a free hand to return to his dictatorial ways. Shame on you.

On the other hand, I doubt if there was an agreement on how the cabinet would be constituted should Pakatan Harapan come to power after the 14th general election (GE14).

I believe the GE14 results that swept the Umnoputras from Putrajaya came as much as a surprise to Harapan as well as BN.

That being so, unless DAP and PKR are willing to take their parties out of Harapan, Mahathir's prerogative as prime minister to form the cabinet must also be respected.

Yes, Mahathir has benefited his Bersatu party inordinately in the corridors of power in Putrajaya. Yet, unless PKR and DAP are willing to risk it all in an out-and-out confrontation with Mahathir, the rakyat, like PKR and DAP, will just have to bite the bullet and soldier on.

Mahathir would be foolish to think that the rakyat will allow him a free hand to go back to his dictatorial ways.

Anonymous_4205e994: Let me offer a different view. The results of the win were a collective strategy to give Harapan the best chances for a win. Bersatu has taken the rough shots in the Malay heartland where others can hardly win.

Today, I take it that a similar strategy has taken shape to administer the government, not solely to reward the winners but a strategy to appease the voting masses, therefore the cabinet apportionment need not reflect the number of winners but other considerations as well.

Yes, I am surprised that Bersatu’s Rina Harun appeared in the final line-up as rural and regional development minister, but I am not the best judge. Just accept the present cabinet selection and see if the results justify their selection.

Guna has made a valid point based on statistics. However, I think it is more than that and I take my chances with Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman as the youth and sports minister.

JW: Thank you, Guna. Apparently, you needed to point out the obvious because far too many people have become gullible to whatever Mahathir says and does.

Mahathir's self-serving shrewd and devious politics - his true leopard spots - needs to be monitored, even more so today simply because those gullible to Mahathir are treating him like he cannot do any wrong and excusing his mischief or deviousness as cute or merely harmless idiosyncrasies.

So, Guna, I hope you devote part of your column to monitoring Mahathir and his politics.

Drngsc: Yes, Guna, your analysis is reasonable. Except for Lim Guan Eng being made finance minister.

In Lim’s case, Mahathir had no choice. DAP won 42 seats and so needed to be in the first set of ministers. It is obvious that DAP cannot hold the deputy prime minister, defence, or home affairs posts. Those posts are even more sensitive. So Lim Guan Eng can only be given the finance post, or no post.

Apart from the first group of "senior " ministers, it looks like Mahathir is not putting country first, but himself first.

The Harapan leadership must be more imposing on Mahathir, so that he will not be doing things "his way", because then we will be back to Mahathir 1.0 (1982 era).

There must be consensus within Harapan when making decisions. Please DAP, let your voice be heard. Be an effective check and balance.

Spinnot: It's only fair that cabinet positions reflect the number of seats won by the respective component parties of the coalition.

Seats were allocated to the party which has the best chance of winning the seats, and the negotiations also reflect the respective parties' bargaining strength.

It's no good arguing after the election that other party or parties would also have won the seats allocated to another party if given the chance.

Pak Pandir Jay: The situation is not ideal but it's progressive. I prefer to argue along Guna's point than over concerns of yesteryears about seat allocation according to race. This is truly a better discussion.

Point taken, but point missed. The true discussion, however, is about the capability of individuals appointed and their subsequent performances. There lies the devil. Why bicker?

The prime minister has his prerogative. The rakyat have power. We will watch.

Politics has never been cleaner in this country with race and religion-based parties sidelined. But politics has never been pretty. It's a game played in the devil's den.

LoveMalaysia2: Looking at Guna’s argument, I have wondered the same but have come to the following conclusions.

First, Mahathir wants to reassure all those Malays that switched sides that they will be adequately represented. He knows Malaysians fear change.

Secondly, he wants to debunk Umno’s charge he is the puppet of DAP or PKR.

Thirdly, he knows his time is limited. He has agreed to step down once PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has been elected MP. Anwar is then free to appoint his own cabinet according to his own strategy.

So I’m not bothered by the current appointments appearing unbalanced in Bersatu‘s favour. As Mahathir himself said, ministers who underperform will be removed.

Snowcrash: Never forget that Mahathir is the man who dismantled our civic structures and weakened the institutions that could act as a check on the executive.

I - and others like me - accepted him as a necessary evil, with the understanding that PKR, DAP and even Amanah would act as a check on him, and rein in his worse impulses.

But this clear act by him to consolidate his base by placing too many Bersatu (akin to Umno 2.0) candidates as ministers is beyond the pale.

Syed Saddiq has nothing beyond good social media skills to commend him to his role, and Muhyiddin Yassin is ineffective as home minister - what reforms has he initiated? What shortcomings has he discovered?

PKR and DAP separately have more seats than Bersatu, Amanah, and Warisan combined, but that is not reflected in the cabinet.

Mahathir is slowly trying to get back to his bad old dictatorial habits, and it's beholden upon us to stop it before it gets any worse.

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