IT WAS a task nobody thought was possible prior to May 9, 2018 – to overthrow the once almighty Barisan Nasional (BN) government and herald a new beginning for the nation.
This was a change that many Malaysians had been yearning, but most believed it would never happen.
Enter Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix), and what was seemingly impossible at first eventually happened.
The Datuk Seri Najib Razak-led BN coalition was humbled and sent to the ground. And with it, Malaysia ushered in a new era under Pakatan Harapan (PH), which aptly means “Alliance of Hope”.
But this victory did not come knocking on the door. Not for PH and certainly not for Mahathir.
The elder statesman retired from politics in 2003 after 22 years in power, passing the baton to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi before Najib came into power.
In the years since, allegations of corruption, misappropriation and abuse of power within the government became the talk of the town.
And being the man of principle that he is, Mahathir did not remain silent. He started voicing his criticism against Najib and BN on his blog before finally announcing his official return to politics in September 2016 when he formed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), after all attempts to pressure Najib into stepping down failed.
However, life was made hard for him. He was questioned and probed by the police for a number of cases, some of his government-assigned bodyguards were withdrawn, while his outrider privileges were also removed.
Yet, Mahathir remained steadfast in his vision for a brighter Malaysia.
PPBM would eventually go on to become part of PH, and Mahathir was later announced as the prime minister candidate, should the coalition defeat BN.
Almost immediately, there was an air of belief that it could happen, and it did. Mahathir, defying his age of 93, won the Langkawi seat while PH, defying the odds, won federal power.
The PPBM chairman would not be the sole reason for PH’s surprise victory, but he certainly played a major role in making sure it happened. To put it simply, he turned out to be the final piece of the incomplete jigsaw board.
Coming out of political retirement to put the country back on its right track says so much of a man who is, to use cricket terms, closing on a century.
Things have not been all smooth for him and he has had his fair share of criticism since, with many questioning PH’s unfulfilled election promises. But he is also the glue that is holding the coalition and the country together.
Mahathir is the longest-serving prime minister of this country. Now, he is the oldest (probably in the world). If anything, Mahathir is proof that the impossible is possible.
