By P. Ramasamy

IS the former prime minister and current leader of Bersatu party Muhyiddin Yassin telling that he not only masterminded the formation of the party but the prime cause of the collapse of the PH government?

Maybe he is right in saying that the formation of Bersatu was his initiative after he was sacked from Umno.

He was removed for questioning the former prime minister Najib Tun Razak for the latter’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

It is clear that it was Muhyiddin who worked clandestinely to undermine the PH government from the start.

The former prime minister Mahathir Mohammed knew about these sinister moves but kept silent to ensure that such moves would be able to checkmate PKR and DAP.

The rapid rise of anti-Chinese sentiments in general and against the DAP were not the work of some mysterious forces termed as the deep state then.

The deep state was nothing but the forces headed by Muhyiddin with the knowledge of Mahathir to undermine the legitimate government of the PH.

The PH government was caught unprepared to the extent that they had placed trust in Mahathir to take control of the situation.

Mahathir was responsible for pinching the baby and rocking it to sleep at the same time.

In fact a master plan was hatched and executed with near precision to ensure that the multi-racial government would not last too long.

Mahathir was both an accomplice as well as an arch egoist who had his own plans quite independent of Bersatu.

He resigned after the collapse of the PH government but came up with bizarre and preposterous idea of a unity government.

A government headed by him but with members personally chosen by him and not based on any political affiliation.

The idea had no traction whatsoever but went to reveal the diabolical nature of the man who would not have any hesitation in imposing a one man administration if he had the choice.

Later he was to suggest to the country’s ruler to appoint him as the head of a national emergency council at the the time of the pandemic.

The arrest and detention of the 12 Indians, some from the DAP, was an attempt to intimidate the DAP.

The Malay dignity conference was another attempt to intimidate the non-Malays when Mahathir was the prime minister.

While the dark and ominous clouds were gathering to bring about a coup against the PH government, the itself coalition itself was in a state of disarray.

PKR, DAP and Amanah relied more and more in Mahathir to save the situation from collapsing under its own weight.

From the state of the PH government, the writing on the wall was clear that Mahathir would not never allow PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to succeed him, even though was a transition plan.

But Mahathir made a mince meat of the PH’s transition plan that would have allowed Anwar to succeed him.

Mahathir had no such intention it was just that the PH was gullible.

They thought with Mahathir on their side, “our prime minister” or “my prime minister” will take care of the extreme forces.

However, Mahathir proved to be not the solution but part of the problem.

Even after the collapse of the PH government, there were some unsuccessful attempts to prop up Mahathir as the prime minister once again.

Anwar knew the tricks of Mahathir, but bided his time thinking that he had a small window of opportunity.

He was wrapped up with the position so much that he failed to challenge Mahathir on the breach of the transition plan.

Muhyiddin by his own admission has admitted that he was the prime architect in the collapse of the PH government.

He doesn’t have to admit, the whole world knows about it.

He trusted Mahathir but not the extent of the PH coalition.

Muhyiddin takes pride in Bersatu in the fact that he was the brains behind its formation.

He resigned as the prime minister, he was forced to do so after losing his majority.

The Melaka state election might be his Waterloo.

With PAS besides him, he needs no enemies.

It is not the question of whether the PN is going to win the election or not, it is more about the relevance of Bersatu in national politics.

Muhyiddin might take pride in the formation of Bersatu, but I am not sure whether he is willing to take the blame in the possibility of the collapse of the party.

*Dr P. Ramasamy is Penang Deputy Chief Minister II.

*The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Hindu Press (THP)