Just set the date for the handover of power

LETTER | Is it just me, or are most Malaysians also fed up, tired and embarrassed by the petty lows to which social/political discourse has sunk in this country?

Only in Malaysia can random low-level politicians and other cheap-publicity seeking individuals make wild, attention-seeking statements – and immediately have the media highlighting their actions.

Imagine, Chinese New Year decorations in some obscure school can become an issue.

Only in Malaysia can fly-by-night NGOs habitually gather a rent-a-crowd, dress them up like multi-coloured clowns and start marching. It helps that so many of these serial sandiwaraistas probably don’t have a proper job.

What is most depressing is that the highest levels of government, with all the state and security power in their hands, usually react in panic to these ridiculous actions when the best course would be to just ignore these laughable provocations.

GE14 was supposed to be this paradigm-shifting upheaval to the entrenched power structure.

Malaysia Baru was heralded as a new beginning. A brighter future free of the toxic racial manifesto the previous regime had ruled by would dawn upon us.

Fat hopes. Two years on, all that has occupied the minds of the politicians, both in and out of power – sometimes it is difficult to even say who exactly is in power and who isn’t, with so-called Opposition parties considering a vote of confidence in the sitting PM – is the never-ending power-grab games.

There’s a lot of blame to go round, but ultimately, two men are responsible for this state of affairs - the current prime minister and his chosen successor.

The root of all this petty stuff is clearly the 95-year-old enjoying his second go-round as prime minister.

Instead of using his second chance to build a lasting legacy by leading the country onto a path of prosperity and enlightenment, he has spent what must be very limited reserves of energy on political shenanigans, subterfuge and firing shots across his perceived enemies’ bows – in between angering foreign governments.

The joke is complete when you consider that one of those “enemies” is his designated successor.

And what exactly is Mahathir’s end game? Laying the groundwork to remain as PM until he is 115 years old? Laying the groundwork for his son to take over?

Who does the whispering in his ear in private (we know Lim Guan Eng is his designated whisperer at public functions)? Does even Mahathir himself know what his end game is?

The ultimate lesson is that appointing someone north of 90 may get you 15-minutes in the Guinness Book of Records, but beyond that, a 95-year-old mind is seriously unsuited to inspire any kind of Baruness. No energy, no bubbling ideas, no getting away from long-fossilised attitudes.

So why is this situation being allowed to go on? Because the yang to Mahathir’s yin is Anwar Ibrahim, the designated successor.

For someone totally unfamiliar with Malaysian politics, it would be a total surprise to learn that the man who seems afraid to even be seen on the outskirts of Putrajaya is actually scheduled to move into the heart of the capital city.

Well, “scheduled” without any actual schedule.

Anwar, like almost all the others in the ruling coalition, seems petrified of even saying a cross word to Mahathir.

The situation is so ridiculous that whenever one of the more daring Pakatan Harapan politicians – who is usually from the DAP and sometimes from PKR – criticises Mahathir for keeping Anwar dangling, we have the head-scratching spectacle of Anwar usually rushing to Mahathir’s defence to his own detriment.

If he is not able to even mildly stand up to Mahathir, how is Anwar ever going to stand up to internal and external challenges when he is the country’s leader?

The excuse is that he does not want to interfere in any way in how Mahathir runs things. That is looking more and more lame.

To begin with, that is irresponsible selfishness.

This is not some private company where one CEO stays out of the way in how things are run until he takes over.

This is a country, and whether you are the present or future leader, you are obligated to act when the national discourse goes into kecoh mode.

Secondly, he casts a bad light on his own wife with that stand.

Essentially, he is saying that Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the Deputy Prime Minister no less and the senior PKR representative in cabinet, is merely a prop and has no say in how the government is run (which, sadly, seems to be true).

Thirdly, if that is indeed Wan Azizah’s role, then why doesn’t he replace her in government as Deputy Prime Minister?

If Wan Azizah can stay mute in the cabinet, so can Anwar since it would be a like-for-like exchange?

Besides, it is incumbent on Anwar to lay the groundwork for his transition into power.

Becoming PM is not going to be simply a phone call one Sunday evening from Mahathir saying, “Dude, I’m done. Can you move in tomorrow afternoon?”

Countless people – maybe even in the hundreds – will be required to get a new administration up and running on Day One.

So when do that transition planning and implementation occur? It would seem being in government already would be the most natural position to be in to get that going.

In politics, there are always things that are seen, and things that are unseen.

Maybe all this sodomy and LTTE dramas are fundamentally a warning to Anwar and his supporters to not make a “wrong” move.

But from what has been visible for the last two years, all this stuff could so easily have been avoided, and can be neutralised even now (though Hadi and his ilk will always find something to grab the headlines) if only one thing is done:

Whoever is individually or collectively responsible – just set the date for the handover of power.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.