In his latest article at Malaysia Today, the blogger observed that Dr Mahathir had refused to state whom he preferred to be the new Prime Minister. “Mahathir only says he does not want Najib any longer and does not agree to Anwar Ibrahim taking over.”
Raja Petra also noted that the formation of an anti-Najib alliance on Friday had led to the DAP now becoming the “kingmaker” in politics, with the power to influence or decide who in Umno would become the next prime minister should Najib be ousted.
While Mahathir wanted his son to take over, Anwar’s party, PKR, and supporters of Pakatan Harapan preferred Anwar. However, neither Anwar nor Mukhriz was a member of Parliament and he speculated on how either could accomplish the feat.
However, he flatly stated that “the man whom Dr Mahathir wants as the new Prime Minister is his son Mukhriz. And Dr Mahathir has to make sure this happens while he is still around”, making a reference to Mahathir’s age. (The former premier is now 90 years old.)
He said Mahathir’s onslaught against Najib was the result of Najib’s failure to help Mukhriz become a vice-president of Umno when Umno last held its party elections. As vice-president, Mukhriz would have been better placed to vie for the presidency or be in a position to be made prime minister.
“It was after that when Dr Mahathir decided to punish Najib for not helping his son,” Raja Petra wrote. “Because Najib refused to help Mukhriz, that has shattered Dr Mahathir’s dream for his son to become the new Prime Minister.”
Raja Petra said the formation of an anti-Najib alliance on Friday had positioned Umno’s longtime nemesis, the DAP, as kingmaker.
“DAP is going to determine who becomes Umno’s president and in the process the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And that was basically what happened on the afternoon of Friday, March 4th,” Raja Petra wrote.
He did not go into further detail about the DAP. However, the party holds the second-largest number of seats in Parliament, 38 to Umno’s 88, and has a stranglehold on the votes of the urban Chinese community. In addition, it controls the state government in Penang, and has a commanding position in the Selangor and Perak state assemblies.
Raja Petra was dismissive about the prospects of Anwar Ibrahim becoming prime minister. Anwar’s party PKR, and civil society leaders such as Ambiga Sreenevasan, have demanded that Anwar’s release be made part of the anti-Najib campaign.
Dr Mahathir himself, when asked on Friday, avoided answering whether the anti-Najib alliance would seek Anwar’s release from prison.
Anwar is serving a five-year sentence on a sodomy charge, and was previously jailed for abuse of power during Mahathir’s time, although he was freed of a sodomy charge.
Raja Petra pointed out that Anwar would not be eligible to contest in a general election until 2028, by which time he would be past 80. He could only become prime minister succeeding Najib if he was to receive a royal pardon and contest a by-election, a process that would take months.
(Malaysia’s election laws forbid by-elections within the final two years of Parliament’s term, and any vacancy would not be filled during the rest of the term.)
In addition, PKR was a minority party with only 30 seats, and Raja Petra speculated that Anwar would need to buy over a sufficient number of Umno’s MPs to secure his position. He would need as much as RM1 billion, Raja Petra speculated.
He wondered if Dr Mahathir was prepared to declare his intentions so that the players in the power game could position themselves.
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