LETTER | In line with Independence Day today, I recall those glorious days in 2018 when Malaysians as a whole dethroned the Barisan Nasional under the leadership of Najib Abdul Razak.

It was truly a memorable moment and many of us looked forward to a better Malaysia and a time when Anwar Ibrahim would helm the leadership.

Unfortunately, it was a huge mistake for the Pakatan Harapan leadership to place their trust in Dr Mahathir Mohamad and within a short period, he revealed his true colours and our dreams were shattered with the backdoor government’s entry.

As anticipated, the Perikatan Nasional government did not last long and recently paved the way for another very fragile recycled government.

The rakyat never got their mandate back and once again, Anwar was denied the prime minister position.

It was a free-for-all and suddenly we saw Mahathir’s boy, Mohd Shafie Apdal, joining the chorus to lobby for the premiership.

Personally, I felt very distressed over Shafie’s sudden interest and could only conclude that it was the work of none other than Mahathir.

Shafie was merely following instructions and, as everyone knows, Dr Mahathir will do everything he can to stop Anwar from becoming PM.

Shafie personally lost plenty of respect when he suddenly entered the race to be PM, which was clearly evident with what happened with Upko next.

Shafie has no proven track record to be a prime minister as even his leadership of Sabah when he was the CM did not yield many positive results.

As a Sabahan, I did not see any major improvements for the rakyat and the poor were still very much left neglected.

I hope Shafie realises he is being manipulated by Dr Mahathir and stops this nonsense and instead backs Anwar in the coming GE15.

It is time for the rakyat to regain the true mandate and elect a leader whom they truly respect and want, to lead the nation.

Anwar has paid his dues and has given the nation something to hope for. It is time for him to lead.

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