YOURSAY | Mahathir’s strange unite-and-divide plan

YOURSAY | ‘He has formed three new Malay parties in the last six years.’

Analysts: Mahathir's GTA in for bumpy ride, will only split Malay votes

Mahathir's century-old 'pro-Malay' move leaves Kit Siang feeling blue

BobbyO: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has never remained loyal or faithful to any cause, except his own.

This goes back to the time when he was in Umno. He used Umno to his advantage. Look at his family's fortunes.

He even went to the extent of splitting Umno to secure his position. Which Malay agenda was he serving at that time?

When Umno no longer served his cause, he started Bersatu with former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

And after making use of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan to regain power, he betrayed them. He never had any intention of giving up his PM’s post as he had promised.

He moved on to form Pejuang - another Malay party. Pejuang proved to be a failure - they lost all the seats, including their deposits, at the recent Johor state election.

Not willing to forgo an opportunity to lead this nation for the third time, he now forms another Malay coalition, hoping that this might be the key that would help him to return to Putrajaya. This is not a Malay agenda, but his very own.

He had used Umno, Harapan, Pejuang and now a new entity, Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), comprising Pejuang, Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional (Iman), Parti Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa), and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra).

All these have nothing to do with the Malay struggle. It is all about using the Malays to achieve power.

Mazilamani: Indeed, it is now no longer a secret that Pejuang chairperson Mahathir came into politics with a well-hidden personal agenda.

His continuous endeavour, forming three new Malay parties in the last six years, is a giveaway that he has always remained a pro-Malay.

I feel sad for the millions of Malaysians of all races from the past five decades who strongly believed that Mahathir was leading us towards “One Malaysia”. That never occurred to him.

IndigoTrout2522: DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang wholeheartedly believed that Mahathir had changed in 2018, whereas most Malaysians did not believe that.

They believed correctly that he was only using Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and others to continue to promote his Malay race and Islamic agenda as he was rejected by his old party, Umno.

They submitted to and defended his autocratic style during his 22-month rule and Harapan is now bearing the blame.

Even after Sheraton Move, most of Harapan’s leaders still tried to hang on to him when it was bright as daylight that Mahathir had done a lot of damage.

Why are these DAP, PKR and Amanah leaders so blind? Now, Mahathir has made it clear that his real goal is to promote and protect the Malay race and the Islamic agenda in Malaysia.

This is consistent with Umno. PAS, Bersatu and Pejuang, except he wanted complete control.

Kit Siang feels sad that Mahathir has gone full circle. He has not. This was the real Mahathir and he has camouflaged himself very well.

Fortunately, his influence has waned as the grassroots have lost trust in him even though the leaders have not.

Salvage Malaysia: Mahathir’s popularity had already waned in the 14th general election. His party performed the worst, winning only 13 seats.

Harapan had allowed him to be the prime minister. He used that position to strengthen his party and his popularity. There’s no doubt that Mahathir is very smart.

But his brand of politics is too toxic. He constantly pitches people around him to fight one another. As they weaken, he becomes stronger. He made the leaders in Harapan run around in circles.

His skill at deception is second to none.

Pesticides: I disagree with Universiti Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) research fellow Awang Azman Awang Pawi’s statement that GTA will split BN/Perikatan Nasional votes.

I think it will do just the opposite. Mahathir stated clearly they want to fight BN/PN. So do you think BN/PN voters will support them, knowing that GTA cannot be more corrupt/racist than BN/PN?

Who will likely be hoodwinked by GTA? Some Harapan voters and fence-sitters will. The previous few state elections provided the clues. That's bad news for Harapan.

Proof Of Pudding Always In The Eating: Perhaps the plan is to split the Malay vote so that Harapan wins on the back of the non-Malay vote and after that, the Malay parties will get together and stab Harapan in the back again. They would have learnt from the Sheraton Move.

The real plan is never to unite under someone but only unite under him, Mahathir.

Malay leaders have 100 percent control of the country since Merdeka and what have they achieved? We are one of the most corrupt countries in the world, while Singapore next door is one of the cleanest.

Frank: GTA is a political party of no difference. Whether it is around or not, it makes no difference to anything or anyone.

The marhaen (plebeian) from Perlis to Sabah have by now all wise up to the guiles of those behind its formation. Why?

After six decades, just look at the state of ‘bangsa, agama dan negara’ (race, religion and nation) of those who they purportedly trying to save. Those supposed fighters are actually trying to save themselves… from being forgotten.

Fair Play: The tragedy of it all. Mahathir still hasn’t realised it yet and perhaps never will. He has gone from hero to zero the day he resigned as the seventh prime minister because of his frivolous conduct.

Now he is just a tiny ageing ‘ikan bilis’ who still thinks he is the great white shark.

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