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I HAVE nothing personal against BN. Just like many of my friends who are now attacking Barisan Nasional, Umno gave me a job when they were in power. I am only relating history as a former reporter and now DE guest columnist’s point of view. That’s all.

To understand what I mean, we have to go back to history. In 2018, Malaysians rejected BN/Umno which ruled the country for more than half a century. PH+ formed the new federal government and Bersatu President Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became Prime Minister for a second time. He was PM from 1981 to 2003 when he was leading Umno. What an irony.

PH itself comprised PKR led by its president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, DAP and Amanah. Azizah (Kak Wan) took over the PKR presidency after her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sent to prison for a second time. 

Dr M appointed Kak Wan Deputy Prime Minister, the first woman to hold the post. Rumours had it that after the May 2018 election, Kak Wan was the one summoned by the King.  His Majesty was believed to have invited her to form the government as her party PKR had more MPs.

But Kak Wan reportedly declined as there was a pre-election pact between PKR and Bersatu that should BN be defeated, Dr M would become PM for two years after which he would hand over to Anwar.

Which partly explained why the swearing-in of Mahathir was delayed until night time and not morning as originally planned. If I remember correctly, Dr M did issue a statement earlier in the day questioning the delay.  He did not put it in too many words but hinted that the pre-election pledge should be honoured.

Kak Wan’s decision won her praises from Malaysians as someone who kept her words. She graciously stepped aside for Dr M and accepted the DPM post.

Anwar was earlier pardoned by the Agong. He then contested in a by-election in Negeri Sembilan and won as MP.

Whether or not Dr M kept his words after two years (as Anwar was released) is too long to relate here. Anyway, this has been overtaken by events as Anwar is PM now but nothing to do with Mahathir. Will explain later. 

Bersatu’s second in command, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was made Home Minister, a post considered important after the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. For the uninitiated, the Home Minister among other things controls the Police. That’s why normally the PM and Home Minister come from the same party. You know what I mean.

It was rumoured that Muhyiddin had expected to be made Finance Minister if not DPM, a post he had held before being sacked by then PM Najib.

This is important as events later showed that Muhyiddin had an axe to grind against the Old Man and DAP’s Lim Guan Eng who was made Finance Minister by Dr M instead. Lim was the Penang CM from 2008 for 2 terms (10 years).

Fast forward to 2020, Muhyiddin’s “revenge” came when he led a group of Bersatu MPs to disassociate themselves from the PH+ government, effectively dislodging PKR and DAP from the Cabinet. 

Muhyiddin had enough MPs to form the new government with the help of Umno, PAS, and MPs from Sabah and Sarawak. 

It was rumoured that Dr M would be present at a dinner at Sheraton Hotel where the birth of the new government would be announced. But Dr M was nowhere to be found. Only Bersatu, Umno and PAS MPs were seen

The next morning, Dr M announced his resignation as PM, a decision that shocked and rocked the PH+ government. Earlier, first thing in the morning, a few PH leaders including Anwar, Kak Wan and DAP (Lim Guan Eng) leaders met Dr M at his residence, obviously trying to persuade him to stay in office.  There were rumours that he might resign due to the Sheraton Move the previous night.

But Dr M announced his resignation soon after the PH+ leaders left his residence. From Mahathir’s house, PKR and DAP leaders headed to their respective party headquarters to discuss the latest situation.

Upon arrival at the PKR headquarters, Kak Wan was surrounded by reporters as she was still the party president. Answering reporters’ question as to whether Anwar would succeed Dr M as PM, Kak Wan made her now famous statement: “We leave everything to God as Man Plans, God also Plans….” (Manusia Merancang, Tuhan Turut Merancang”. 

The expectation that Anwar would succeed Dr M was not unfounded, bearing in mind the electoral pact between PKR and Bersatu that Dr M would hand over to Anwar after 2 years, although for the record he never did, saying that he would do so “at the right time”.

But, as Kak Wan stated, Man Plans God also Plans. The then Agong decided to invite major parties to submit their choice as PM. Mahathir has remained as Interim PM for only a few days and he floated the idea of a non-partisan Unity Government not based on parties.

There were three candidates – Perikatan Nasional (PN) comprising Bersatu, Umno and PAS led by Muhyiddin, PH comprising PKR, DAP and PAS led by Anwar, and a non-partisan Unity Government coalition led by Dr M who after resigning attempted a comeback.

Muhyiddin won as he had the backing of more of MPs. Apart from Bersatu, Umno and PAS, he also had backing from most of the Sabah and Sarawak MPs. Some of the Sabah MPs contested under the Bersatu banner in the 2020 State election.

PH failed to get the support of Sarawak MPs, no thanks to the then big-mouth DAP leader Lim. In an earlier State election, Lim Guan Eng said in a rally in Sarawak that if the State Government continued to be ruled by the same party, Sarawak would go bankrupt in six months or something like that the Chinese say, Trouble Comes from the Mouth.  History repeated itself in 2022 when, after the MP election, Malaysia saw a “Hung Parliament”. Again, the King invited the major parties to the Istana for negotiation. 

The then Agong (Pahang Sultan) proposed that PN leader Muhyiddin and PH leader Anwar take turns to be PM. Muhyiddin flatly rejected the offer, saying that his coalition had enough MPs to form the simple majority.

Muhyiddin miscalculated. He was confident because 10 Umno MPs who through SDs had pledged their support to him. But what he didn’t expect was the Umno president pledged the support of all Umno MPs to Anwar regardless of the SDs and the Agong listened to him. The 10 MPs were overruled based on party constitution.

Muhyiddin’s loss was Anwar’s gain. Within days, Anwar was sworn-in as PMX and the rest is history. Today, Muhyiddin is facing corruption case. Politics is indeed dirty but as the Malay saying goes, Don’t live by the sea if you are afraid of waves.

Similarly, DAP’s Lim Guan Eng faced corruption charges for things he approved when he was Penang CM from 2008-2018. But after he was appointed as Finance Minister by Mahathir in 2018, nothing much was heard of the case again. 

After Dr M was no longer PM, Guan Eng’s case surfaced again and until today no outcome. Politic.

But all good things must come to an end. In August 2021, Umno pulled out its support for Muhyiddin, causing him to lose majority in Parliament. 

Muhyiddin did the honourable thing by resigning. He could have dissolved the Parliament to call for fresh election and still stand a chance of becoming PM again. Respect. 

Muhyiddin was succeeded by Umno vice president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob who was Muhyiddin’s Deputy Prime Minister for only a month before that. Ismail was one of the four Senior Ministers appointed when Muhyiddin became PM in 2020. 

Of the other three Senior Ministers, one was from Sarawak while the other two were from Muhyiddin’s own Bersatu party. Muhyiddin did not appoint a DPM.

Political analysts said had Muhyiddin appointed Ismail or an Umno MP as DPM from the start, he might not have lost his Premiership. The Chinese saying that Once You Make A Mistake, You Live To Regret It Forever applies.

The person who had the last laugh was perhaps Dr M as he had described Muhyiddin as a Traitor. You Reap What You Sow. What a turn of events, within 3 years of losing power someone from Umno is PM again. Politics….

However, Ismail’s stint as PM was also short-lived, just like Muhyiddin. Ismail was sworn-in on 21 August 2021 and his term ended on 24 November 2022, the day Anwar was sworn-in as PMX. Just like Muhyiddin, Ismail served less than two years. In order to secure his seat as PMX, Anwar needed the support of Sarawak MPs.

DAP was a component of Anwar’s PH and Sarawak was still angry with DAP, no thanks to big-mouth MP Lim who had criticised the State Government. 

DAP Sec-Gen Anthony Loke had to fly to Kuching to apologise to Premier Abang Jo on behalf of the party. 

Loke saw the Premier in the morning. That was the day that Anwar was sworn-in. That same afternoon, Guan Eng also issued an open apology which he refused to do so for many years. Only with Sarawak’s support, Anwar’s position as the new PM was secured.

The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: Forum@dailyexpress.com.my