YOURSAY | ‘This is rich. A man with five MPs saying he'll cut ties with a man with 38 MPs.’

Dr M issues ultimatum to end ties with PKR, willing to explore other options

IndigoTrout2522: Instead of sincerely looking at the concerns of the rakyat, addressing the issues, and exploring a win-win formula, including power-sharing to appoint cabinet members and other major decisions, Dr Mahathir Mohamad resorts to issuing ultimatums.

He is not even willing to acknowledge that the first option of Pakatan Harapan was to support Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister.

Wake up, Harapan leaders, and do what is in the best interest of the nation and stop airing your complaints in public.

David Dass: Hard as it is for Mahathir to accept, there is no deal to be made without Anwar and PKR.

A compromise would be for Anwar to be PM and for him to be minister mentor perhaps with special functions - looking after the economy or education and the minister in charge of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec).

After all, being a minister for six months is really symbolic not practical. It will achieve nothing. He had 22 years to do whatever he felt needed to be done. And he had an additional 22 months to do what he pledged to do. And failed to do even that.

His actions pursuing a unity government brought about the collapse of the Harapan government. He could regain some of his lost legacies by working hard with Anwar and Harapan to regain power.

He is 95. There is very little time left for more games to be played.

Bobby0: At 95 years of age and someone who already had served two terms as PM, this ultimatum shows that Mahathir has lost it all.

Power and position are his agenda and has remained so all his political life. He used whatever means to stay in his position until current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin beat him at his own game.

Mahathir’s interest is not the nation’s future.

Mafeeah: If we look back at GE14, yes, Mahathir brought in the votes through Bersatu and it was successful. Now looking at the present, I have been asking the Malays I meet and sadly, none of them wants Anwar as PM.

I hope the rest of the Malays I have not met can say otherwise. Of course, excluding PKR members.

Kim Quek: Mahathir said Pakatan failed in 2008 and 2013 but succeeded in 2018 to capture the government – all because of him, the Malay votes he brought in to support Harapan in 2018. He is talking rubbish.

The Malay votes garnered by Harapan in 2018 was the least among the three general elections – well below 30%. It was the surge of Chinese votes to near monolithic support (95%), plus the horrendous 1MDB scandal that fell the Umno hegemony.

Even the 13 seats (out of 52 seats contested) marginally won by Bersatu was due to such monolithic Chinese support, and not due to the meagre Malay votes secured by Bersatu.

Mahathir has also revealed in unequivocal language in this Sin Chew interview that the only objective of his current political pursuit is to become PM again, irrespective of the means of achieving it, and seemingly to the exclusion of everything else, including its relations with Harapan.

If DAP and Amanah still can’t wake up from their obsession to put Mahathir back to the PM seat again, then they deserve to meet their political Waterloo.

OrangeCheetah9224: Good riddance! Mahathir, the country can do without you.

We will solve our own problems when we come to the bridge. Whether it's BN, Harapan, or Perikatan Nasional (PN). We can overturn a corrupt bad government when the citizens arise.

Fair Play: The nation still needs a 95-year-old to save it from the damages this same person had inflicted during his tenure as the fourth PM?

Skippy: This is rich. A man with five MPs saying he'll cut ties with a man with 38 MPs. And here's the kicker, he manages to convince DAP and Amanah to support the one with five instead of the one with 38.

This country is dying if not already dead. As for me, life goes on. No big deal. Anyone of the two, or the current one, would make no difference for now.

Wg321: Anwar has made the right decision to reject Mahathir as the PM for six months.

His six months may turn out to be 60 months, or after six months, he may withdraw from Harapan Plus, thus ensuring the collapse of Harapan Plus so that he will deny Anwar to be the next PM. It’s better to go for a snap election.

NA: Mahathir, there are many Malays out there that do not subscribe to your notion that Malays do not support multiracial parties. This mindset of yours is the mindset of Umno that is deep-seated in you.

And for this reason, you should be nowhere near Harapan. You don't want to be PM to right what is wrong for the people. You want to be PM for yourself, to serve your own agenda, whatever that is.

Straight Citizen: Due to the racial politics played by irresponsible politicians in our land, the Malay grassroots I got to touch base with have sadly returned to safeguarding the position of their race and religion.

It's very clear today that the last election's result wasn't a ‘Malaysia Baru’ dream shared by all who voted for Harapan, although it was trumpeted and marketed as such. Mahathir is a prime example of an opportunist who shared that dream, at best at a quarter portion.

I've learned the long hard way to never trust politicians to make our land a better and safer place. It has to start from us, from our own homes, where we have the opportunity to instil in our children values to express genuine love, respect, and honour to our neighbours, our fellow countrymen.

ToGodtheglory: Mahathir perpetuated the false belief that only a Malay-based party can lead. But the Malays now stand against this because of 60 years of evidence in the form of a wider gap between the rich and poor Malays.

Getting rid of PN and installing Mahathir will not bring meaningful change. Anwar is probably aware of this, that attaining the PM-ship will not last. Not enough Malays are ready for change. Until they are, the nation rots, slow and subtle the ‘Mahathir way’, or fast and furious the ‘PN’ way.

Mahathir, there is only one thing you can do right by this nation, a nation where innocent carefree children once laughed and played together oblivious to their differences in skin colour, language, choice of food, or beliefs. Gone are those days.

The people of this nation are now incarcerated in a dysfunctional time capsule that you played a big part in bringing about. Do the right thing, muster the courage and tell us how your policies failed us as a nation, how a drastic change of mindset is required.

Many will not forgive you but countless all over the world will applaud you for your frank courage. So please, set us free - all of us.

More: YOURSAY | Finally, Mahathir shows his true colours

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