YOURSAY | For Dr M, it’s either Anwar or the Chinese

YOURSAY | ‘But it’s he who self-inflicted the demise of his own premiership.’

Dr M: If not for Anwar, I'd still be PM

IndigoKancil5615: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, every time you blame either Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim or the Chinese minorities without rhyme or reason, we know that you are deeply frustrated with your own mistakes or miscalculations.

You have tried to make Malaysia bend to your will by manipulating the law, antagonising everyone from royalty to the rakyat. You blamed the whole world but yourself. Isn't it strange that you now find that you are even more frustrated and disappointed than ever?

You will be celebrating your 97th birthday next month. The question is, will you celebrate it with satisfaction and contentment or with ever-deepening resentment and bitterness against your perceived enemies that are eating your soul from the inside?

Existential Turd: He blamed DAP for trying to usurp Malay supremacy. He blamed the Chinese for the uncompetitiveness of the Malay community. He blamed Harapan for not supporting him.

He blamed Anwar for ousting him. He blamed the Malays for not working hard, being stupid and genetically inferior. He blamed George Soros for the 1997 financial crisis.

You get the drift. Whatever he says, believe the opposite and you'll be right most of the time.

Vijay47: Mahathir, once again we are treated to the old mantra that whatever you do, the fault always lies with someone else.

You now seem to be doing a little jig with numbers - Anwar could similarly claim that were it not for your self-serving destructive obsession, he would have had another 62 votes, making him the prime minister with 154 MPs supporting him. Jadi, macam mana? (So how?)

Anyway, if indeed Anwar’s refusal to support you led to your no longer being the prime minister, the nation owes him a huge vote of gratitude.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Mahathir, what rubbish are you spewing? Wasn’t the two years up for the handover to Anwar?

It was decided at the Feb 21, 2020, Harapan council meeting to allow Mahathir to continue until the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit at the end of December 2020. Instead, the Harapan was toppled the day after by Bersatu and renegade PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.

Even if Azmin pulled out with 10 MPs, Anwar could have become PM provided Bersatu kept its word. He could have also gotten support from other individual MPs in Parliament. Instead, Mahathir betrayed him in concert with Azmin, Muhyiddin Yassin, Hamzah Zainudin, Hishammuddin Hussein and others.

When Mahathir resigned, he ended the Harapan government. His plan was to form a Malay-majority ‘unity government’ without Anwar, PKR and the DAP.

The rakyat can only curse liars, betrayers and traitors. If your word is no longer your bond, go hang yourself.

Proof of Pudding Always in the Eating: Mahathir and honesty are at two opposite ends of the encyclopaedia. While he wanted Anwar’s support, he was never willing to reciprocate.

RedLeopard9781: Mahathir, you could not even honour the first simple rule - pass the baton to Anwar, as it was agreed. To many, you go down in history as the one who self-inflicted the demise of your own premiership.

What an embarrassment. Even a novice politician would not do that.

Proarte: Why did Mahathir resign? He could have tested his majority in Parliament by calling for a confidence vote. Those 62 non-Harapan MPs could then show their support for him in a vote of confidence and comfortably keep Harapan in power.

Equally, Anwar could then say if Mahathir had not resigned, he too would have had 154 supporters when Mahathir handed over power to him as promised.

So why is Mahathir such a crybaby when he dumped himself as PM? Sign of senility? I very much doubt it. Mahathir wanted Harapan to collapse. Can there be any doubt about this now?

The 62 non-Harapan MPs supported Mahathir purely because he brought down the Harapan government by resigning. Their support for him would have vanished into thin air had he remained the Harapan PM.

Mahathir is an Umno trojan.

Coward: Mahathir confirmed what we already know – that he was betrayed by his own overconfidence in himself.

Immediately after betraying Anwar, he thinks that Anwar had no choice but to go begging and support him.

Doubtful: After you have betrayed Harapan by resigning without even bothering to consult your Harapan partners first, you then have the audacity to expect those whom you betrayed to continue to support you?

Hmmmmmmmm: No matter how you try to twist and turn now, history will not remember you fondly. Your reputation has been severely tarnished.

As long as Umno is in power, your history may be safe but future historians will have a lot of materials to work on, including news and comments from Malaysiakini.

There is no escape for you, Mahathir.

SeekTruth: You had your chance for redemption, you blew it, and along with it the hopes of a nation which yearns for real change.

Wherever they bury you in the end, you'll always be remembered as a sore loser.

Fair Play: I suppose for the record, the most important thing is this - at least to the rakyat - if not for then PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Mahathir would not have been the 7th PM.

But of course, Mahathir is the classic example of his own pronouncement - Melayu muda lupa (Malays forget easily).

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.