Fast forward to the past

More than anything else, the last general election was a referendum on the Mr. Najib led UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) government. As it turned out, it did not matter how incongruous the personalities, ideologies and views of all that made up Pakatan Harapan (PR) were, as long as they did not come with the stigma of 1MDB and assorted other corruption scandals, they were home free.

Understanding the rakyat’s anger with the previous regime, removing everything associated with them, including the HSR, the ECRL, university heads, GLC heads etc was done almost immediately. It also helped that the dislike of and desire for revenge against Mr. Najib also seemed to be something that united him and his new colleagues equally, so all these moves were hailed as part of the “new “Malaysia everyone was hoping for.

Even two months into the new government, most Malaysians especially on social media, when confronted by the spectacle of the new PM agreeing with Mr. Najib on keeping Mr. Zakir Naik untouchable, or on the reluctance of the Deputy PM to act on the 11-year-old child bride issue, would still use whataboutism to defend the new government. What about the 60 years BN has had, or what about the billions stolen from the rakyat, or what about BN cozying up to PAS etc.

But two issues in the past week are getting a lot of people who were celebrating the demise of BN pause for thought. The first was the issue of the new National Car. From the time he came to power, Dr. Mahathir has been adamant on reviving his dream of a National Car. In the face of all kind of expert views calling the idea impractical, to ordinary people begging him to focus on public transport or an electric car if he was so adamant, his response is essentially this; my way-to the highway.

The reason why many Malaysians are not willing to give the government a free pass on this issue is primarily because the new PM was also the PM in charge when the disaster that is Proton was conceived and implemented. It is one of the few things that try as he might, he cannot blame Mr. Najib for.

And just as the murmurs against this project were building, comes the news that the PM has appointed himself and Mr. Azmin Ali onto the board of Khazanah, the Malaysian Sovereign wealth fund. After years if not decades of decrying the UMNO/BN practice of appointing political cronies to boards of Government Linked Companies (GLC’s), Malaysian supporters of PH are now coming to the uncomfortable realisation that their new hero is still the same person who was their old villain.

But equally amazing to watch is the supine impotence that the rest of PH has been afflicted with, when it comes to standing up to Dr. Mahathir on these topics. There is just an eerie silence.

Emboldened by the continued focus on Mr. Najib by his PH colleagues like Mr. Lim Kit Siang, Mr. Tony Pua and Mr. Lim Guan Eng who are busy counting his past excesses to keep their base happy, Dr. Mahathir is running Malaysia exactly the way he left off the last time he was here. He is happy to have his old pals run a parallel centre of power under the wonderfully named Council of Eminent Persons. He has not said anything against the continuing vilification of Dr. Ramasamy for asking for Dr. Naik’s return to India.

He is extremely keen to review the National Automotive Policy (NAP). The New Economic Policy (NEP) that he defended as recently as this year which institutionalizes racism? Not so much.

Simply put, his manifesto is not, and never was the same as PH’s as he does not subscribe to their values of racial equality and needs cum merit as a basis for government aid, rather than race and religion.

He will not now fulfill the 10 promises PH was to fulfill in 100 days, he may or may not leave power in two years’ time and he now views the PH manifesto as merely a guideline, not an instruction manual.

All the institutional reforms that were promised, such as the repeal of the Sedition Act and making the EC independent are still under consultation, being studied or being reviewed. Except of course for the much-reviled Mr. Najib’s GST and NSC Act that are due to be repealed in this session of Parliament.

Even the much despised UUCA Act will take five full years to be repealed. One has to wonder if that has anything to do with Dr. Mahathir’s propensity to use the Sedition Act or the UUCA against his opponents the last time he was in power.

The one real change though is his realisation that the relative freedom enjoyed by the alternative news media was a major factor in his win, and so far, his government is keeping its promise to keep the media free. Cases against Zunar and others accused of abusing freedom of expression have been dropped, and no new cases filed.

Given that nobody in PH so far has shown any spine in standing up to Dr. Mahathir on any of the above though, nothing prevents him from reverting to form and disparaging the press when criticized, and muzzling its freedom when under threat.

To mix metaphors, the leopard clearly is not going to change its spots, but can anybody tame the lion? The future of Malaysia, not just PH is beginning to revolve around that question.