Marhaen Dan Rakyat

Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was born not out of a long-term ideological project, but out of political urgency. Its founding in 2016 was driven by a single overriding objective: to dislodge Najib Razak and weaken UMNO’s long-standing dominance of Malay politics. Under Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s patronage, Bersatu was designed primarily as a vehicle for his own political ambitions rather than any sincere attempt to serve as a party of the masses. n.Bersatu’s current collapse, marked by internal revolts, leadership crises and organisational disintegration, is not a sudden accident. It is the delayed consequence of how the party was conceived and led from the very beginning. Mahathir’s leadership style has consistently privileged personalised authority over institutional development. During his long premiership, power was centralised in the executive, weakening norms of cabinet collective responsibility, parliamentary oversight and internal party democracy. This cultivated a political cu...

The relationship between Mahathir and the Malaysian royalty can be described as tumultuous. Once again, the former statesman has launched another attack on the Johor royal family for allegedly failing to help the Malays. However, given his turbulent history with the royals, can we trust his accusations? Mahathir has constantly portrayed himself as a stabilizing force in Malaysian politics, with grand statements such as only he can take charge and lead the Malays into the future. But it is crystal clear today that Mahathir is responsible for the political instability we see today. Pursuing his vision of Malaysia, he turned UMNO and the Barisan Nasional into a powerful patronage machine. He crippled every institution supposed to check and balance an overreaching executive to push through his “reforms.” He often sacrificed integrity to secure loyalty and bypassed those not supporting him. What about his Bumi first policy? The effects of Mahathir’s policies on his “favoured” bumiputras hav...