Mahathir the grand puppeteer......

After two successors and almost seven years after vowing to take the back seat, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad is showing no sign of doing so. Having been a vocal critic of his handpicked successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, recent developments indicate that Mahathir may be none too happy with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak either. A clear indication of this came earlier this week when Mahathir took a swipe at Najib, whom he had endorsed, for having failed to explain his 1Malaysia slogan convincingly.

“They (the public) do not know which is which, which ones are for the Chinese and which ones are for the Malays. If I were to explain, how should I know? I was not the one who created the slogan,” he said.

1Malaysia has not been the only area at which Mahathir has turned up his nose. Only a month into Najib's premiership, the veteran politician weighed in against him on the reversal of the policy to teach Science and Mathematics in English. Through his blog, which courts several million readers, Mahathir chided the then newly-minted premier for wavering on policy decisions.

After months of apparent support, the elder statesperson took a stance against Najib's New Economic Model (NEM), which had called for the cancellation of racial quotas. Mahathir also became patron of Malay rights NGO Perkasa. Emboldened by his endorsement, Perkasa fronted the Malay Consultative Council to pile pressure on Najib, leading him to finally claim that nothing had been finalised on the NEM.


The cheating charge against former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik, who served in Mahathir's cabinet, is also not likely to strain the relationship even though it may reflect badly on the former premier. Yesterday, Mahathir said he was willing to be a witness in the case against Ling, but that his responsibility in the matter was limited “as there are lots of things that a prime minister does not know”.

“The public may have the perception that it may cause damage (between the two), but his statement on this shows that he is willing to help the government solve the issue,” said political analyst Shamsul Adabi Mamat.

Universiti Malaya political scientist Noor Sulastry Yurni Ahmad said Mahathir's public statements were signals to Najib.

“It seems that for Mahathir, Najib's one year as premier is not bearing the 'right' results. He is using a psychological approach by highlighting these matters publicly so Najib will take notice,” she said. It is also likely that Mahathir's seeming 'mentor-mentee' relationship with deputy premier Muhyiddin Yassin is adding to the pressure on Najib.

“Muhyiddin is like Mahathir's shadow. He knows what is right and what is not right (by Mahathir) and he tries to guide Najib,” she said.

Noor Sulastry said Najib would do well to keep the “unofficial government adviser” at bay by acting carefully, especially on economic matters. This, she said, was among the key reasons which led to the breakdown in the Abdullah-Mahathir relations. - Aidila Razak

source:malaysiakini

Mahathir cant be bothered with Najib,Rosmah or Mahyuddin. He wants things done his own way.........

I planned each charted course -
Each careful step along the byway,
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.........

cheers.