YOURSAY | ‘It was the nonagenarian’s ego had brought down Harapan.’

Mukhriz: Don't point finger at Dr M when PKR not blameless

P Mammen: Pejuang president Mukhriz Mahathir, you are defending Mahathir, that’s understandable. After all, he is your father, which son wouldn’t. Nevertheless, Mukhriz, the glaring truth cannot be overlooked.

Your father did set a precedent when he accepted defectors from Umno when he formed Bersatu. Subsequent renegades aka Sheraton turncoats emulated the same act which eventually toppled a government that was given the mandate to rule by the people. Hence, we are in this mess now.

Mahathir, too, was very much against implementing the anti-hopping law. It’s still fresh in my memory, reading his statement two years ago on this topic when he was the PM and in power, report courtesy of Malaysiakini.

“Putrajaya will not enact an anti-hopping law as elected representatives can freely switch parties in a democracy. We are a democratic government. We believe in democracy and democracy allows frogs to jump," he had said.

These are truths you cannot run away from, as much you want to deny them. Of course, it’s easier to blame the rest of the world for your father’s mistakes than admitting them.

KeyPoint: Listen, Mukhriz, your father disliking or hating PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, that's between them. He even lied to the foreign press about passing the baton to Anwar. Both of them can slug it out all they want.

But your father did destroy and dash the hopes of all the 14th general election (GE14) voters placed upon him for a better Malaysia as PM for the second time. The voters are his real victims.

All in your clan are rich and can nicely shake legs but the betrayed voters are now facing the consequences and suffering. Of course, you feel absolutely nothing about this.

Why was your father meeting with the Sheraton Move gang including opposition politicians like PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang and those Umno corruption-tainted ones in his home then? Has he got any ounce of integrity? Or you still don’t get it?

Iphonezours: Mukhriz, the fact that Mahathir resigned as PM and caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government cannot be denied. He or anybody else can defend his resignation but Malaysians know the truth very well.

We are fed up with politicians who take the people’s votes for granted and then defect, those who play race and religious divisive politics to break up our society, politicians who abuse their authority, corruption and kleptocracy. Malaysians will vote all of them out.

Hbasil: Mukhriz is correct here because parliamentarians who left PKR for Bersatu did so because they are corrupted by power. Now the real question is why was this not recognised by Anwar, PKR’s Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and the rest?

Right from the start of PKR party elections, there were obvious signs of factionalism with PKR deputy leader Azmin Ali and former Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli camps. Anwar, being a weak leader, did not know how to address the problem and did nothing to bring the two camps together.

Azmin and his follower Zuraida Kamaruddin openly defied directives when it came to attending PKR meetings leading to speculation that the party was fractured beyond help.

Instead of cracking the whip, Anwar and company chose to turn a blind eye hoping problems of factionalism would miraculously disappear. So, the blame for the "frogs" is squarely on the shoulders of Anwar as party president.

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad betraying Harapan by stepping down and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s move to attract others into Bersatu isn’t the issue here as far as PKR defections are concerned.

To me, the fallout started with cracks within PKR and Bersatu. In the end, Bersatu took advantage of the situation by welcoming the dissenting corrupt lot from PKR into another corrupt Bersatu.

Stop blaming others, instead ask yourselves what is the root cause for the split and disrespect by PKR parliamentarians towards its president. Anwar is a softie and is a liability in Harapan. It is about time the Malays within Harapan came up with a replacement.

If you want a Malay leader then look for someone with utmost and impeccable integrity. Rafizi, former ministers Dzulkefly Ahmad and Khalid Samad are some names that come to mind.

IndigoTrout2522: The rakyat is not blind or deaf. Anyone could see the fall of the Harapan government was attributed to Mahathir.

He encouraged Azmin and gang to go against Anwar. He did not honour his promise to hand over the PM post and consistently made different excuses for the delay.

As PM, he did not implement the Harapan manifesto as agreed. Now, his son is trying to deny everything.

His most trusted aides and co-conspirators betrayed him, and he betrayed Harapan and then tried to blame everyone but himself. The game started with him and is still playing it while the nation and people suffer.

Gerard Lourdesamy: The best is for PKR to forget Bersatu and Pejuang but work with Warisan, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) together with the other Harapan parties like DAP and Amanah in facing GE15.

If no coalition gets the majority to form the government, then PKR should consider working with Umno.

It is obvious that Mahathir never wanted Anwar to become PM; Azmin was promoted and protected by Mahathir despite PKR not nominating him to the cabinet; PKR was sidelined in the cabinet appointments; the Umno defections were encouraged by Mahathir to neutralise PKR and DAP within the Harapan government; and the general mistrust between Anwar and Mahathir made the Harapan government untenable after the infamous Malay Dignity Congress.

Between Perikatan Nasional (PN), Bersatu and PAS, working with Umno is the lesser of two evils, with or without the Umno “court cluster”.

Anonymous Observer: Mukhriz should understand that his father had gone back on his promise to hand over the premiership baton to Anwar, thereby betraying the trust.

His father made unilateral decisions on all important issues without consulting the Harapan presidential council. The nonagenarian’s ego had brought down Harapan.

NA: PKR (along with DAP and Amanah) is not blameless. The biggest blame is for inviting the ungrateful, mosquito party that is Bersatu into Harapan, allowing them to run the show, broke promises and wrecked Harapan from inside.

As for Mukhriz and Pejuang, just stay far away from Harapan.

Vgeorgemy: In the end, victim-blaming is the easiest way for justifying an act to prop up the ego of a politician who has lost his legitimacy.

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