PETALING JAYA: An analyst has cautioned pundits against rushing to dismiss Dr Mahathir Mohamad from the political arena just because Pakatan Harapan (PH) has decided to back PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as its prime minister candidate.
James Chin of the University of Tasmania鈥檚 Asia Institute said it was too soon to write the former prime minister off.
He told FMT he didn鈥檛 see Mahathir giving up trying to oust Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to take the post for himself although PH鈥檚 latest decision had forced him to look for a new formula.
鈥淥ne should never write off Mahathir,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he fact is that he鈥檚 still an icon in the Malay community. It鈥檚 not so easy to get rid of him.
鈥淧H鈥檚 decision not to support him doesn鈥檛 mean he can鈥檛 create a new coalition. But it will be hard.鈥
Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said Mahathir had lost some negotiating power and would be closely examining his cards before deciding on his next move.
鈥淗e will wait and see to assess the best and most politically rewarding option,鈥 he said.
However, Azmi Hassan of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said the snub Mahathir had suffered could spell the end of his political exploits.
He seemed to have lost the political clout he had before the 2018 general election and his future now looked bleak, he added.
Azmi told FMT he would rule out Mahathir鈥檚 return to PPBM since the party was now collaborating with Umno.
鈥淢ahathir and Umno working together will never happen,鈥 he said.
He also said it would be wise for Mahathir to decide against defending his Langkawi seat should a snap election be called.
鈥淧H鈥檚 backing of Anwar as its designated prime minister means that Mahathir will lose significant PH support. So I don鈥檛 see how it is feasible for Mahathir to defend Langkawi.鈥
But Azman said Mahathir would probably defend the seat and would choose to retire from politics only if he could attain some form of 鈥減olitical satisfaction鈥.
鈥淔or example, if his son Mukhriz鈥檚 position in politics is really secured, then he may step away from politics in peace.鈥
Chin also predicted that Mahathir would defend the Langkawi seat since he would need to be an MP in order to be prime minister again.
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