YOURSAY | ‘We will never know the truth about his role…’.

Rafizi: Dr M did not bring in Malay votes, no need to work with him

MS: Fans of the mendacious former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who keep pushing the idea that Pakatan Harapan would not have succeeded in 2018 if not for the support of this man, will not accept the possibility that it was perhaps the other way around.

It was Mahathir and his successor, Muhyiddin Yassin, who hitched their fledgling Bersatu wagon to the combined opposition powerhouse of PKR, DAP, and Amanah for a free ride to Putrajaya.

This speaks to Mahathir's ability to mesmerise and manipulate the people around him, as well as the startling gullibility of his erstwhile partners, who did not have the foresight to make him anything more than a nominal leader.

So, the problem of the aborted Harapan experiment was more a problem of the rest of those who made up that coalition of convenience - their misguided deference to age (which the coot fully exploited), their misplaced loyalty to a mythical common cause, their crippling fear of rocking the boat even when it was taking on manufactured issues like the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Seafield temple attack, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) and that Indian subversive now silently plying his venom.

Above all, they could not take frequent stock of events as they unfolded and nip the real threat of betrayal in the bud. They bit their tongues and sat on their hands because they were revelling in their new ministerial positions and, to a lesser extent, were unsure as to what would happen were they to confront the chief manipulator with their concerns.

In short, they preferred to be pliable playthings in the hands of a patently dishonest and divisive "captain", whose track record of manipulating people and events over three decades is not a secret by any measure.

In short, the head honchos in Harapan have about as much responsibility for the betrayal of the people's trust as the ringleaders who gathered at the Sheraton.

Kilimanjaro: I have made my views known about Mahathir's and Bersatu's contribution to attracting Malay votes.

Umno has been the government and PAS has been ruling the roost in the rural Malay heartland. Even Umno had little traction in that Malay heartland.

I believe the one guy who used to make the loudest noise as if he was representing the majority of Malays is Ibrahim Ali, fondly referred to as "Katak Ibrahim". None of the candidates who stood under his political banner made it, including Ibrahim himself, despite the "Malay warrior" he seems to be.

So Mahathir may have been the president of Umno and a two-time prime minister. Muhyiddin may have been the Umno deputy president and former deputy prime minister. It is my calculated and considered belief that Muhyiddin may have been history if Harapan did not give him and Bersatu a political platform. The same goes for Mahathir.

The pathetic and meagre number of seats won and some possibly with Harapan’s help, reveals an unrevealed dark secret. Bersatu, Mahathir and Muhyiddin were nothing more than trouble and headaches for the young Harapan.

They did not have in them what it took to be a coalition partner with Harapan. The disproportionate share of cabinet posts given to Bersatu was not appreciated by the party.

What or who is Muhyiddin? A bigoted and selfish person who has no problem with claiming to be a champion of race and religion, and yet his Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu is praising the Indian voters in Tambun as kingmakers.

This is what I can say to non-Malay voters, particularly the Indians, when you think of any Bersatu candidate, think of the face of Abdul Hadi Awang.

That is how rotten their politics are. Mahathir has zero credibility among the majority of non-Malay voters. Even the Malay parties don't want him. The Harapan Presidential Council may have realised the backlash from the ground if it had wanted to work with Mahathir and his party Pejuang.

Whatever that can be said of Mahathir and even Muhyiddin, and despite the many years in politics, they have lost the plot.

Muhyiddin may get some Umno disgruntled votes but the work of the non-Malays has been cut out. A vote for Muhyiddin and Bersatu is a vote for Abdul Hadi Awang and PAS. Is that what the non-Malays want?

Coward: While it is true that Rafizi's analysis of elections is better than others, I think this time, he read the data wrong. He is arguing that it's more the steady gain of Harapan over the decades that was the deciding factor and not Mahathir. I disagree.

The steady gain set the foundation, and Mahathir was the final sprint that brought them across the line.

My reading of the final surge of support at the end of campaigning for the last election is Mahathir the seasoned politician at his best, such as ignoring everyone and doing exactly what he wants to do at the time, but shrewd enough and able to whip up the support when it is needed.

MalaysianWarrior: As much I’d like to agree with Rafizi’s thoughts and analysis, I beg to differ on his conclusion outrightly. Let’s all study the situation constructively.

It may be so during the interim periods when Mahathir was on board, there may not have been much visibility on the impact he may have had on the last general election. But as momentum started to build up, social media also played an integral part in the campaign.

And with the production of a short and simple video showcasing Mahathir and two kids indirectly apologising for his past mistakes and shedding a tear a two, proved to be the main push factor for the majority of voters to swing their votes in favour of Harapan.

I have asked many people who they voted for back in the last general election and why, and the majority indicated their decision was due to Mahathir and the effect and reach his video had on them and the masses. Truth be told.

Contrary to what Rafizi said, he did bring in the Malay votes and more. And emotion, remorse, sincerity and a tad bit of creativity to get that message across played a huge difference. And that was why a lot of people think he betrayed the people who supported him and Harapan.

Just a Malaysian: We will never know the truth about Mahathir's role in the 14th general election. We can speculate all we want.

But we all know what he did after winning the election. If this is not enough to convince Harapan to avoid him, I don't know what will.

Amanah’s communications director Khalid Abdul Samad is a good man and his focus is on getting rid of Umno. Leave Mahathir alone. He is toxic to the core.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.