Pic by BERNAMA

ON MONDAY, after Tan Sri Mahiaddin Md Yasin announced his resignation as prime minister (PM), it rained, prompting his supporters in the greater Klang Valley at least, to declare that even the skies mourned his departure.

His detractors, however, were quick to dispute that. They said instead of mourning, the sky was blessing the land for being rid of an incompetent leader who got there through betrayal and backstabbing.

Yesterday, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob (picture) was called to the Palace, along with 113 other MPs, by the King.

For all intent and purposes, the King wanted to confirm that all these MPs did indeed support Ismail and they did so voluntarily. That also seems to point towards Ismail Sabri is en route to be the ninth PM of Malaysia.

And that also seems to conclude that Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, touted to be the PM-in-waiting, will continue to wait. And wait.

It did not rain in the greater Klang Valley yesterday. The sky was probably ambivalent. But in Kedah, the sky was in rage, unleashing its fury on a land that has been raped and ravaged by the powerful and greedy. But that’s another story.

Back to the political scene at the centre, it is actually a story about what goes around, comes around, and it is not about to end with the ascension of Ismail Sabri or the resignation of Mahiaddin.

Though not widely discussed, a point that should be highlighted is that this is the second time former Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak and Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had run Mahiaddin out of office.

The first was in 2015 when Mahiaddin was the deputy PM (DPM) and Najib, the PM, sacked Mahiaddin. Obviously, Najib was backed by Ahmad Zahid, who went on to succeed Mahiaddin as the DPM.

Mahiaddin then turned to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and through the alliance with the Opposition in Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the wide support of the voting rakyat, they turned the table on Najib and Ahmad Zahid in the 2018 polls.

Fast forward to the last couple of weeks. Najib and Ahmad Zahid, despite facing dozens of court cases for kleptocracy and other financial indiscretions and without any government positions, had unceremoniously ousted Mahiaddin from office the second time, this time as the PM.

Mahiaddin may try to cushion his embarrassing fall from grace by citing his unflinching principles of not wanting to cooperate with the kleptocrats nor allowing them to dictate the nation.

His supporters swooned on that statement and heralded him as a principled man who would not compromise on such matters.

Without needing much scrutiny, except maybe for his supporters, there is something very amiss in Mahiaddin’s narrative.

In the first place, he was told by Dr Mahathir not to proceed with his plans to leave PH and form an alliance including the kleptocrats, of which Mahiaddin chose to ignore.

Given his decades in politics, surely he was aware, given the questionable majority he had to secure the PM’s post, that he had empowered the kleptocrats to pull the rug from under his feet whenever it suits them.

Indeed, they allowed him to perch on the peak for a while, and given Mahiaddin’s somewhat earlier “popularity”, the kleptocrats bided their time.

When Mahiaddin’s popularity took a dip and was at its lowest ebb, they struck.

It was no different than the time when they struck Dr Mahathir. It was at a time when PH was suffering from setbacks after setbacks and an internal crisis was brewing.

But they wouldn’t have been able to bring down Dr Mahathir and PH if Mahiaddin and his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and some of Anwar’s dissidents from PKR had not joined forces with the kleptocrats.

It should not come as a surprise that Mahiaddin and his ilk are tasting the same bitter medicine. The only difference is that he inflicted it on Dr Mahathir and PH, but this time around, he brought it upon himself.

With that, Mahiaddin ran the full course — he brought down Umno and now returned it to Umno and whether he or his supporters want to admit it, they had literally handed over power to the kleptocrats.

Now that Ismail Sabri seems set to take over, the supporters of Perikatan Nasional (PN) may argue that he was not with Najib and Ahmad Zahid but was siding with Mahiaddin, meaning that he is not too keen to be with the kleptocrats.

But the 114 support he received to secure the majority included that of the kleptocrats’ as without which, he would not have made it to the tape.

Ismail Sabri’s position is more precarious — he depends on the kleptocrats to get the post and at the same time, is dependent on Mahiaddin and Bersatu as well.

As such, the joke being floated around that Mahiaddin may be appointed as a Mentor Minister may not be so preposterous after all, given Ismail Sabri’s need to please both the kleptocrats and Bersatu, who were obviously very unhappy that their president’s PMship was made the shortest in the nation’s history.

Indeed, there are numerous rooms for further betrayals and backstabbings. In the middle of these, the nation will have to contend with the fact that Ismail Sabri’s political power play — Mahiaddin’s resignation, the kleptocrats attempt to rebadged themselves as the people’s leader were all in essence, an exercise in futility.

Ismail Sabri and the rest of the PN leadership were the same as that of the failed government with nothing intelligent or inspiring to offer. If he had not been considered a sharp tool in the previous shed when acting as a senior minister and later on as the DPM, he can’t suddenly become sharper in the new shed.

Coupled with the threat of dictates from unsavoury and vengeful factions, Ismail Sabri’s anticipated ascension promises more uncertainties, gaffes and faux pas.

And the long, black cloud looms.

Shamsul Akmar is the editor of The Malaysian Reserve.