We are probably witnessing the end of the Mahathir era in Malaysia’s politics, but the elderly leader is putting up a fight to keep floating in a flooded space.

After losing several members from the ‘original’ break-away Bersatu-party-turned-independent in Parliament, he failed to get his party, Pejuang registered.

Sources told WorldFuturetv Pejuang did not get the green light because of pressure to get Dr Mahathir Mohamad to give his support to the Perikatan Nasional government.

However, the former Prime Minister is not budging on his demands for the PN to get rid of ‘corrupt’ leaders, particularly those from the Umno.

Last year, the Muafakat Nasional leaders planned to get Mahathir onboard as their chairperson. They believed he was agreeable to the plans. But Umno had to get rid of Najib Razak and some other leaders.

The role offered to Mahathir was not to become PM, but to support Malay unity, which they believe is one of the legacy the elderly politician wants to leave behind.

Mahathir has recently said he did not bother with what people will say of his legacy. There is one reason for this: That is because of Umno’s insistence to keep corrupt leaders has angered him deeply.

In Mahathir’s plans for Malay Unity, he has some Amanah leaders and Keadilan members in mind. But Anwar Ibrahim, the Keadilan leader, is not one of them.

We also know some Amanah leaders and maybe one or two Keadilan leaders are waiting for Mahathir to rally support from Umno and PN to join him.

They are the ones who believe in Malay unity in politics, though they are fighting for the Malaysian cause in other parties.

But will all this support from the Pakatan Harapan parties, Mahathir is still incapable to rally a majority of MPs in Parliament.

Because it is in Parliament that the fight is to take place and where the incumbent Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will survive or fall.

Mahathir has to wait until August 1 to know whether the Parliament will again convene after the lifting of the state of emergency.

On the other hand, Mahathir took as an affront that former Education Minister Maszlee Malick wrote a letter to the Agong in which he shows support for Anwar Ibrahim as PM.

Mahathir has directed the MPs who followed him in Pejuang not to give any support to Anwar. This soured Mahathir.

Slowly, Mahathir is losing support from a broader base, though he broke the Bersatu’s grassroot and divisions when he announced the creation of Pejuang.

CHINESE AND INDIAN SUPPORT

Mahathir does not count on Malay support only to see Malay Unity happening in Malaysia. He is also after the non-Malay MPs in Parliament whom he believes could add to his support group.

And he has the blind approval of some Democratic Action Party MPs to push his agenda forward. However, once again, they do not make up the numbers to help Mahathir in creating a new regime where he will have a role to play.

Nevertheless, a majority of the non-Malays lost their faith in Mahathir and are surely regretting the profusion of praise for him after the miraculous 2018 defeat of the Barisan Nasional and the fall of Najib Razak.

The non-Malay population will not forgive Mahathir for the Khat-Calligraphy incident.

In heated debates in Malaysia on introducing the Khat or Islamic calligraphy in vernacular schools, the blame for the confusion was both on the DAP and Mahathir. The angry parents did not spare Maszlee. They hold him responsible for starting the chaos.

The public outcry among non-Malays tarnished the image of the PH among these voters.

However, the government persisted in pushing for these ‘reforms’ which widened the dispute between non-Malay citizens and the Mahathir’s regime.

Mahathir can say goodbye to non-Malay support, though he may still count of some DAP members to back him up.

MAHATHIR’S GRIP

The Maszlee’s letter to Agong incident shows Mahathir is losing his grip on local politics, but it appears he is not aware his popularity is not the same as it was in 2018 and his era is probably at a tail’s end.

The second party created by Mahathir in 4 years does not seem to have the same impact the Bersatu had.

Since 2019, Mahathir saw his iron fist on local politics dwindling after the incessant infighting in the PH and his refusal to acknowledge Anwar Ibrahim as a potential leader of the Malays will hurt his political agenda further.

Is it strange to believe that Mahathir strayed from the PH and gave in to the overtures from the Umno-PAS?

They are the two parties that wanted him to break the PH government and work with them instead only for the two parties to dump him at the last moment in February last year after he quit as PM.

This was the start of Mahathir’s downfall as the most powerful political figure in Malaysia.

Read more on WorldFuture