Is there a method to Dr M’s madness?

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.”- Hamlet

COMMENT | From foreign policy initiatives that beguiled both friends and foes, to domestic policies that seem to have exacerbated the racial divide in Malaysia, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad seems to be at the centre of the current political disaster which has seen a legitimately-elected government overthrown.

Can a reversal of fortunes be expected for Pakatan Harapan come May 18 when Parliament convenes and a vote of no-confidence is mooted and passed on the new government of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin?

Up until a week ago, it seemed possible that Harapan may have had the numbers to scuttle the newly-minted government and render it as the shortest-serving administration in Malaysia’s 63-year-old history.

Not anymore.

On Wednesday ousted former Harapan prime minister Mahathir declared that Muhyiddin’s government would survive till the next general election, cryptically admitting that his former coalition did not have the numbers or that he would throw his support behind the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

In an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian, Mahathir said the Harapan coalition would not be able to mount a challenge to oust the PN government. This statement by the nonagenarian signalled the death knell to any quick comeback by Harapan.

But the dead giveaway in the whole fiasco is...