BEYOND the doom and gloom associated with the Perikatan Nasional Government, it seems that many have overlooked the potential return of an even greater political threat, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s “new party” is desperately attempting to enter the headlines once again – boasting that it will enter the Johor state election to contest in 42 seats, an eyebrow raising number for such a small party.
For the ever-dwindling supporters of Mahathir, this is a welcome development, but one question remains; what exactly is this new party fighting for?
Will it be for the rakyat? Will it be for the Malays? Or will it be for Mahathir’s political legacy and his family?
As the component parties of Perikatan and Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) work towards setting aside their own aspirations and differences, this may be the final attempt for the former premier to cement his standing in Malaysia’s history before he meets the Almighty.
In a poem posted on his blog, Mahathir reiterated that to fight corruption and restore the Malay’s dignity, people should choose Pejuang.
However, the irony does not escape us given the multiple mismanagement that happened during the reign of the fourth and seventh prime minister – where Malaysians saw assets and companies being stripped for the benefit of the few such as Tun Daim Zainuddin and his boys, culminating in an era of crony capitalism, with its ripple effects still being felt today.
It is unfortunate that social media did not exist back then to form the proper check and balance against the Government of the time, which controlled nearly all of the media outlets accessible to the public, but luckily for us and the younger Malaysians, we finally know the true nature of Mahathir.
Dr M failed from the get-go
Mahathir’s return to the political arena was exhilarating to many without a doubt, which led to Pakatan winning Putrajaya for the first time. However, the “Malaysia Baru” days saw many shades of the same old colour through an increase in privatisation of government assets and even vanity projects such as a third national car.
Not only that, but we also witnessed Mahathir’s inability to work with many of his component party members, which led to the demise of the Pakatan government.
We all know for sure now that it has been a game of ego for the old man and will continue to be one if we let things slide back to where it was.
Despite the legacy he has built for himself over the course of more than 22 years and 22 months, there were not that many fanfare this time around.
While many Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chapters dismantled themselves to align with Pejuang – these chapters were barebone skeleton crews anyways.
Not only that, popular figures aligned to Mahathir such as Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has yet to come out and announce their full support to the former (considering that the former minister now runs his own party).
Not a popular thing to do of course when the new party by Mahathir and his son, Mukhriz, is maintaining its distance with Pakatan.
Nevertheless, despite all talks of restoring Malay dignity, this new party fights for nothing but Mahathir’s legacy, and the sooner the rakyat realises it, the better. – Feb 3, 2022
Taufiq Ahmad is contributor to FocusM.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
