Time for Mahathir to name his choice for PM

Lokman Mustafa, The Ant Daily

Shahbudin Husin, whose column ‘Sudut Kiri’ appears every weekend on Semut Harian, is one of the more popular Malay political commentators around.

In one of his recent postings on shahbudindotcom.blogspot.com, the blogger stated it was high time for former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to come clean as to whom he really supports as Malaysia’s prime minister.

In the article titled “Sudah sampai masa Dr Mahathir berterus-terang calon PM pilihannya” (It’s time for Dr Mahathir to name his choice for the post of PM), Shahbudin said it appears as though the fourth prime minister wanted the present premier as well as Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be removed.

In an interview which was recently published in Malay daily Sinar Harian (Dec 8), Mahathir said there were other qualified candidates who could replace Najib, if Umno allowed their president to be challenged.

Nevertheless, the present batch of senior Umno leaders have been preventing young Malays from joining the party in a bid to safeguard their dominance.

Mahathir also took a swipe at the government’s decision to appoint Christoph R Mueller as the new Malaysia Airlines CEO as it was tantamount to an admission the Malays were “stupid”.

“I fear that due to our distrust in ourselves, one day we will appoint a white man to become PM as they are more brilliant than us,” he said.

Shahbudin believed Mahathir was criticising Najib, possibly in an attempt to convince Umno members to oust the latter as party president.

Previously, during Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s five-year tenure as Umno president, Mahathir was his loudest critic and the latter's efforts paid off when Umno decided to replace the Kepala Batas leader with Najib in 2009 following Barisan Nasional’s inability to win its customary two-thirds majority in parliament.

Shahbudin opined that Mahathir seems bent on doing the same thing to Najib today though the question remains who his preferred candidate to helm Umno is.

“Is Mahathir rooting for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, or Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein?” Shahbudin asked.

If the Kedah-born Umno veteran fails to name his choice, attempts to undermine Najib in the eyes of his own party men will definitely come to naught.

Hence, Shahbudin argued that Pakatan Rakyat has a better chance to woo voters in the next general election if their sole candidate for the post of prime minister is still Anwar Ibrahim.

“Mahathir will definitely try to avoid that from happening, but if he hates both Najib and Anwar, then who does he want to lead the country?” asked Shahbudin.

Will Mahathir lend his support to Umno deputy president, or either one of the three vice presidents?

Or will he support Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir or maybe Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who are both younger in age compared to the present batch of party leaders?

Is it possible that Mahathir is secretly supporting Anwar whom he had groomed since the early eighties until they fell out in 1998?

Perhaps Mahathir doesn’t fancy anyone for the post, for the seasoned politician might think the one person who could shape the nation had announced his retirement in 2003, some 17 years before Malaysia’s grand vision could be fulfilled.