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Mistrust, arrogance brought down Dr Mahathir’s govt, say Pakatan insiders

KUALA LUMPUR — Mistrust, arrogance and zero communication between each other were among the reasons the Mahathir administration collapsed in rancour and recriminations a week ago, paving the way for Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to take power on Sunday (Mar 1).

Pakatan Harapan leaders unveiling their logo in 2017. The coalition would go on to unseat Barisan Nasional the following year, only to lose power less than two years later.

Pakatan Harapan leaders unveiling their logo in 2017. The coalition would go on to unseat Barisan Nasional the following year, only to lose power less than two years later.

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KUALA LUMPUR — Mistrust, arrogance and zero communication between each other were among the reasons the Mahathir administration collapsed in rancour and recriminations a week ago, paving the way for Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to take power on Sunday (Mar 1).

He was sworn in as prime minister despite protests of popular support from his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad whose changing stance in a politically tumultuous week killed the Pakatan Harapan government, wiped RM43.4 billion (S$14.3 billion) off the local bourse last Monday and pushed the ringgit lower among most currencies.

“There was little teamwork among the ministers. They teamed up just to knock out Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional in the polls and that’s it,” an aide to a PH minister told The Malaysian Insight.

“They didn’t trust each other and some thought of the other as either arrogant or an upstart. That’s the lesson I learnt from my time in the government,” he said.

Dr Mahathir on Sunday said Mr Muhyiddin, who was home minister in the PH government, had been telling him to ditch ally DAP as the majority-Chinese party was the cause of the pact’s string of by-election losses, especially in the Kimanis, Tg Piai federal seats and the Semenyih state seat in Selangor.

He said Mr Muhyiddin wanted to work with political foes Umno and PAS and had teamed up with estranged PKR deputy president Azmin Ali to form a government that would exclude DAP. 

But Dr Mahathir baulked at the proposal, saying it meant working with those charged with corruption.

Left unsaid was that the Muhyiddin-Azmin plan was also an opportunity to deny PKR president Anwar Ibrahim the prime minister’s job promised by PH.

The PH insiders and aides to ministers said the Mahathir administration was a collection of ministers who almost never spoke to each other except at cabinet meetings or those arranged by Dr Mahathir.

“There was zero communication between the ministers. It was either by way of terse letters or curt statements through the media,” a former aide to a minister told The Malaysian Insight.

An aide to another minister agreed, saying “we do our thing, they do theirs”, pointing out incidents such as youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman going to social media to air his protest against the cabinet removing critical allowances for government doctors.

“It could have been handled better. But they didn’t know how or just relied on what they knew best, social media,” he said.

“It is as if they wanted to show to the world they were doing their work,” he said.

Government officials also said some ministers and their political secretaries did not want to involve civil servants or even government agency staff to work on proposals over fears of the “deep state”, as cited by former foreign affairs minister Saifuddin Abdullah last year.

“They were arrogant and thought they knew better, even with the civil service let alone their counterparts in other ministries. Zero trust, zero communication in the government,” said a senior officer with a government agency.

“The only glue for everyone was Dr Mahathir once the government was formed. Some feared for their posts once he left, and that was why some didn’t want him to leave at all,” another aide told The Malaysian Insight after Dr Mahathir resigned as prime minister last Monday.

This was the reason everyone named him as prime minister.

“Without him, the government would fall quickly and they would lose it all as they can’t work with each other.

“In the end, it did fall. There were enough numbers to go without Dr Mahathir and PH as even the Sabah and Sarawak lawmakers didn’t trust them and thought them as arrogant.”  THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT

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Mahathir Mohamad Muhyiddin Yassin Anwar Ibrahim Malaysia Pakatan Harapan Malaysia politics

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