Another Roller Coaster Ride Ahead

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Like the one that has just crumbled, the would-be new coalition also comprises strange bedfellows who until recently were fighting like cats and dogs, be it in Parliament or the media. Joceline Tan, The Star
THE last couple of days have been defined by powerful optics not seen since the fall of the Barisan Nasional government in May 2018.
The difference this time around is that the optics foreshadow the fall of the Pakatan Harapan administration – a flurry of political meetings, a convoy of limousines ferrying political leaders into Istana Negara for an audience with the King and former enemies turned allies converging at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya on Saturday evening for what appeared to be a unity dinner.
After an intense day of rumours and speculation, the politicians who turned up for the dinner seemed to confirm that a new alignment was taking shape as former foes hugged each other like long-lost brothers.
It was the first time that those who signed statutory declarations to support Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad were gathered under one roof and it was seen as a show of strength to suggest that they had the numbers to form a new government.
It was quite apparent by then that PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali was one of the key movers in the unfolding drama.
Azmin played host at the unity dinner while Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was hosting a tahfiz session in his residence across town, slammed those moving to topple Pakatan as “PKR traitors”.
Life is stranger than fiction but politics is the strangest of them all.
And throughout this political roller coaster, Dr Mahathir, the man in the eye of the storm, hardly said a word to confirm or deny what was happening.
In fact, as the upheaval churned on into Sunday night, he spent the evening at home reportedly reading the day’s newspapers and turning in early.
He had also told the political leaders who convened at his house earlier in the afternoon that he would seek an audience with the King today because he wanted to brief top civil servants on the new development.
Meanwhile, journalists were running all over to keep up with the unfolding drama and to piece together the jigsaw puzzle.
But yesterday, the pieces appeared to have fallen into place.
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