4 times Mahathir destroyed his own political alliances

Last week, Tun M announced that he’s ready to join hands with Muhyiddin if they can agree on mutual political goals – mainly, the championing of Malay-Muslim causes – and Muhyiddin pretty much said:

“Sounds good, man!” – Not actually Muhyiddin, but you get the point

And while both ex-Prime Ministers seem to be enthusiastic about the partnership, netizens aren’t feeling so hot about it, judging by their comments:

Regardless of how well-received the move is among our netizens, the real question is: how long will the alliance last?

We’re not trying to jinx it for them, but looking at Tun M’s track record, he has a knack of turning his allies into enemies. This pattern of behavior started all the way back in the late 90s, when..

1. Mahathir 💔 Anwar

As most of y’all know, Anwar was considered Mahathir’s protege in the 90s, and at one point, everyone expected the former to take over the seat of Prime Minister after the latter stepped down. That was not to be, cuz their relationship started to fracture as Anwar criticized the way Tun M handled the ’97 Asian financial crisis, and advocated for greater transparency, economic reforms and an end to corruption.

There were months upon months of drama that we won’t fully go into here, but Anwar’s growing popularity threatened Tun M’s position within UMNO and challenged the status quo… which we’re sure had nothing to do with his sacking in 1998 and imprisonment in 1999 after being convicted for sodomy.

It wasn’t until 2018 when Mahathir and Anwar appeared to have reconciled their differences, that their strained alliance began to show signs of repair… until Anwar’s coalition pushed Tun M to set a date for the handover of power. That didn’t happen, and Anwar didn’t get to become PM until 2022, and now, the duo is embroiled in an RM150 million defamation lawsuit. It looks like the beef between the two will be stewing for the foreseeable future.

2. Mahathir 💔 Badawi

After Anwar came Badawi, who Mahathir handpicked to be his successor and sure enough, Pak Lah became PM in 2003. Initially, Tun M supported and campaigned for Badawi, but over time, it became clear that Badawi was not going to be Mahathir 2.0, even though that was what Tun M wanted.

Among the many reasons of the eventual falling out between the two was Tun M’s dissatisfaction at the fact that Badawi didn’t continue many of the reforms and policies that were implemented in Tun M’s time. It didn’t help that some projects conceived during the Mahathir era – like a bridge to replace the Johor-Singapore causeway – ended up being scrapped. Tun M also accused Pak Lah of being ‘too soft’ and he had lost confidence in the then-PM to ‘safeguard the interest of the ethnic Malay community’.

After UMNO’s dismal results following GE12 in 2008, Tun M left UMNO in 2008 and urged other party members to quit as well to pressure Badawi into resigning. And resign he did in mid-2009, which led to…

3. Mahathir 💔 Najib

Surprise, surprise, one of Najib’s biggest backers to his ascension was Tun M. Everything was fine and dandy until news broke of the 1MDB scandal, led to Tun M turning on Bossku. Apparently, Tun M and his loved ones were visited by Inland Revenue Office (or LHDN) in the wake of Najib’s scandal. Why? According to Tun M, they were sent to pressure him from talking smack about Najib:

“All kinds of things have been done in order to stop me from doing anything that may affect the image of Datuk Seri Najib,” – Tun M to reporters in Jakarta in 2016

Not really sure why the LHDN was sent to perform that task, but given Tun M’s interview, we don’t think the tactic worked.

4. Mahathir 💔 Muhyiddin

If y’all still remember, Muhyiddin was Najib’s deputy PM up until 2015. He had disagreements with Najib over the 1MDB scandal, and was subsequently removed from his position. In one of the biggest gamer moves in Malaysian political history, Muhyiddin went on to start his own party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU), shortly after. That was when Tun M first joined hands with Muhyiddin with the aim of toppling Najib’s government.

Their alliance, together with the other opposition parties, formed the Pakatan Harapan coalition, and they would go on to secure a historic victory in the 2018 general elections. Tun M would take the top spot once again at age 92. All seemed well.

Under the surface, however, trouble was brewing between Tun M and Abah. Tensions arose over differences in policy approaches, particularly regarding the handling of government contracts and the role of BERSATU within the coalition. Mahathir’s leadership style and influence within the coalition also became a point of contention.

Then, the Sheraton Move happened. Long story short, a series of political meetings were said to have taken place at the KL Sheraton Hotel in February 2020 that included members from BERSATU, UMNO and PAS. All this was done, allegedly, to oust Tun M from PM-ship and form a government without Anwar. The negotiations culminated in the collapse of the PH government, and Tun M’s resignation, with Muhyiddin appointed to be PM instead.

Of course, Tun M wasn’t happy about that, and spoke out against Abah at every turn. Despite everything that transpired, we stand here today looking at round two of Tun M and Muhyiddin’s collaboration. Will they stick together this time? Who knows. What we do know is…

Most of Mahathir’s partnerships seem to work out well… at first

It appears inevitable that Mahathir’s alliances will blow up in the end… sometimes years after the fact. We tried to find an ally of Mahathir’s that only had good things to say about him, but no dice. Maybe that’s just politics. By all accounts, Musa Hitam, Mahathir’s deputy from 1981 to 1986, had a strong relationship with Mahathir during his tenure. Yet, in 2016, Tun M would come out and say that Musa Hitam blamed him for Malaysia’s ‘failure’ in achieving Wawasan 2020.

Another example was Rafidah Aziz, former Minister of International Trade and Industry, known for being a staunch supporter of Tun M in her time. In spite of that, she revealed in 2018 in an interview that Mahathir asked her to approve APs (permits that allowed you to import cars to sell in Malaysia) for Mukhriz.

Be that as it may, it looks like there will always be people who want to work with Mahathir. Aside from Muhyiddin, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, the Secretary General for PAS said that the Party is ready to team up with Tun M yesterday. Hey, maybe this is THE ONE alliance that will work out in the long term. As the classic line goes, ‘belum cuba, belum tahu’, right?