WHAT can a 92-year-old possibly add to a collection of some of the most experienced and brightest politicians in Malaysia?

For starters, boundless energy, direction and an unmatched work ethic – the three ingredients that have been missing from the opposition front for the past year or so.  

This is what happened ‎days after it was announced that Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim ‎would work together and that the former prime minister would be the de facto leader of Pakatan Harapan (PH): meetings were convened; issues highlighted in the meetings were followed up immediately; jobs delegated and the draft of the coalition’s manifesto and constitution tidied up.

In short, there has been a flurry of activity and a sense among PH politicians that after more than 12 months of navel-gazing and nit-picking, there appears to be some urgency in resolving housekeeping matters and charting a road map for GE14.

Perhaps for the first time in a long while, the coalition of PKR, DAP, Amanah and Bersatu seems to be moving in one direction – driven by all-consuming desire of Dr Mahathir to topple Prime Minister Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next elections.

To be sure, there remains trust issues between some opposition politicians and Dr Mahathir, an understandable situation given that the veteran politician was Umno president for more than two decades and was responsible for a laundry list of wrongs committed during his time in office. 

And there is a possibility that the current lovefest between Dr Mahathir and Anwar or other PH leaders could end dramatically over something as minor as a perceived slight.

But for now, the sentiment in PH appears to be that it is a major plus to have Dr Mahathir directing operations – and taking the sting of attacks from Najib and other Umno politicians.

Over the weekend, Umno politicians lined up to snipe at Dr Mahathir, calling him a traitor and a whole string of uncharitable names. There is much for them to aim at.

Dr Mahathir helmed the transformation of the Malaysian economy and changed the Kuala Lumpur skyline‎ but his record in office is also riddled with “problems”, notably the decimation of institutions, the use of detention without trials on opposition politicians and the less than stellar record of privatisation ventures.

Najib has asked Dr Mahathir to state if he still believes what he said in 1997 – that Anwar was unfit for high office because of his sodomy activities that landed the sacked deputy prime minister two convictions.

Yes, Dr Mahathir is going to be hammered from all sides from now until GE14. The government knows that he is the lynchpin in PH and if it can wound him, it will succeed in rattling the opposition coalition.

But history suggests that Dr Mahathir will relish, even welcome, being the focus of attacks. If nothing else, it will confirm in his mind that Najib is running scared. 

After he sacked Anwar from office in September 1997 and introduced capital controls, Dr Mahathir was hated inside and outside Malaysia.

International leaders and reputed publications called him a heretic and treated him like a pariah. Those close to him said instead of being cowed and depressed at the isolation and condemnation, he cherished the limelight and the fight on his hands.

It will be interesting to see if the man once called “Mahafiraun” or Great Pharaoh can withstand the avalanche of attacks today in the same resolute way he did between 1997 and 2003. – July 19, 2017.