LETTER | Our country’s longest-serving prime minister could once again helm the country if the opposition coalition emerges victorious in the upcoming elections.

It is a baffling and mind-boggling decision by the opposition coalition to appoint Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the opposition’s choice to be the next Prime Minister.

For 22 years, DAP and other opposition parties lambasted, criticised and mocked Mahathir’s leadership, and had subjected him to various allegations ranging from corruption to abuse of power. In fact, Karpal Singh once said that if the opposition were to gain power, the first person they would charge in court would be none other than him.

Today, DAP themselves are proposing that Mahathir is appointed as PM if the opposition wins the upcoming elections.

Previously, the opposition coalition chose Anwar Ibrahim as their leader. Anwar’s sodomy conviction didn’t deter the opposition from appointing him to be their leader.

In the future, if the current Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is forced out of Umno for some reason or other, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he himself is anointed as the opposition’s choice to be the PM to make the election results favour them.

It is blatantly clear that DAP and other parties in the opposition are aware of the fact that they can never capture Putrajaya without a pan-Malay as its ally.

The desperate need for a Malay figurehead to spearhead their march to Putrajaya is the reason why opposition is ever-willing to compromise on its principles and ideology.

or the opposition, ideologies and principals are not important so they are not to be adhered to. Their politics is all about gaining power only.

In a nutshell, the politicking style of the opposition coalition led by DAP today reminds me of a famous quote from the late US President Ronald Reagan.

“It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.