PETALING JAYA: An analyst views former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad鈥檚 consistent support for a unity government as just a ploy to keep PKR president Anwar Ibrahim from ever becoming Malaysia鈥檚 prime minister.
James Chin of the University of Tasmania鈥檚 Asia Institute said, as long as Mahathir is still around, he will do his best to stand in the way of Anwar鈥檚 pursuit of helming the top post.
He added this could be traced to the fallout between the two in the 1990s when Anwar was Mahathir鈥檚 deputy in the government.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nothing to do with a unity government. It鈥檚 basically Mahathir鈥檚 personal agenda to make sure that Anwar doesn鈥檛 become the prime minister. There鈥檚 nothing more than that.
鈥淓ven if (Mahathir) doesn鈥檛 become the prime minister himself, it can be anybody else, except Anwar.
鈥淓ven the 2018 deal (when Mahathir and PPBM were a part of Pakatan Harapan) was done in bad faith. Mahathir never had any intention of letting Anwar take over,鈥 he told FMT.
Universiti Malaya political scientist Awang Azman Pawi said Mahathir seemed to be 鈥渟tuck in his own world鈥 where no one else but himself was worthy of leading the nation.
He said Mahathir had moved to bring down Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak because they did not follow his wishes, even though he had chosen Abdullah as his successor and later gave his blessing to Najib.
鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that Mahathir is shackled by personal reasons in trying to deny Anwar from becoming the prime minister. The reality is that Mahathir is scared of Anwar, who is far more capable than Mahathir if given the chance to be prime minister, and who would cause Mahathir鈥檚 legacy to slowly be forgotten by the people,鈥 he told FMT.
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Awang Azman added that Mahathir鈥檚 legacy is at stake with his new party Pejuang unable to go anywhere as long as Anwar and PKR are the mainstay of opposition support.
Mahathir recently said a unity government would be the way forward for Malaysia as the people have grown sick and tired of the politicking that was happening in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that party matters needed to be put aside to reduce politics, saying a government that does not prioritise party-based politics would be good.
But his comments came in the wake of him saying Anwar would not make a good prime minister as he would not be able to lead the country out of a financial crisis.
This prompted PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin to hit back at Mahathir, telling the former prime minister to stop trying to split the PH coalition.
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