GERAKAN Tanah Air (GTA) chairman and twice former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is sour grapes.
Failing to elicit the electoral cooperation of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) against UMNO/Barisan Nasional (BN), he has turned against all the coalitions by claiming that they are not fit to govern the country.
Instead, the best alternative for the future of the country is none other than GTA which is a coalition of four mosquito political parties, namely, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (PEJUANG), Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (PUTRA), Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (BERJASA) and Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional (IMAN).
He said recently that UMNO under its president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cannot govern the country because he is corrupt as charges are pending against him.
Moreover, UMNO is not interested in the future of the country but merely seeing the coming GE15 as way out of the allegations of corruption against some of their leaders.
Tun M eyeing PM-ship
Meanwhile, PH under its president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim cannot be expected to provide a future for the country. The Opposition leader is seen as not only having messed up the country during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis but was too dependent on the DAP.
Last but not least, the PN coalition headed by the former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin does not have the political legitimacy because of its underhand dealings in bringing down the former PH government.
Dr Mahathir thinks that there is still hope for the country. In the forthcoming GE15, he called on Malaysians who are tired of the three coalitions to consider the alternative of another coalition which is none other than GTA that he is currently heading.
In comparison to the other three political coalitions, he justified that GTA has no baggage of the past. It is free from corruption and provides the best and only hope for the future of the country.
Of course, he was too modest to reveal that if the GTA wins the GE15, he might be the prime minister for the third time!
After all he had said earlier that he has the experience and wisdom to manage the country. The sour grapes element in Mahathir is too apparent.
The truth about Tun M
After failing to get the cooperation of PH and PN coalitions, he has embarked on a tirade against them. If he was the man of high principles, why did he offer the olive branch to PH and PN in the first place?
Dr Mahathir’s turning and twisting is indicative of a man who is extremely desperate in politics. His narcissism to be become the PM the third time has overtaken his rational self.
One moment he is calling for cooperation of the two coalitions but at another moment he is attacking them. His memory is extremely selective.
He is considered as one of the worst PMs of the country. It was during his term – especially the first term – that he sowed the seeds of ethnic and religious polarisation among the different races and religions.
Institutional racism was the hallmark of his administration. Yet, despite the havoc he created, he still thinks that he is God’s gift to Malaysia.
I am glad that PH and PN – despite their political rivalry – have one thing in common: they want to distance themselves from Dr Mahathir – the source of the political decay of this country – as far as possible.
Dr Mahathir can say this and that but one thing is certain. He is a finished force in Malaysian politics. Gerakan Tanah Air sounds more like Gerakan Dibawah Air! (literally “Underwater Movement”). – Nov 9, 2022
Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is the DAP state assemblyman for Perai. He is also Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main pic credit: Malay Mail
