YEARS from now when the conversation steers to that special day in May 2018 when Malaysians came together and saved the country, one name will punctuate every sentence: Mahathir Mohamad.

It may be difficult to sketch how a 93-year-old united a motley bunch of opposition politicians in under a year; made Malaysians of different races believe that he was worth backing to the hilt and successfully turned Najib Razak into a caricature,

Analysts are divided as to when Dr Mahathir started planning the campaign to dethrone Najib. A few point to late 2014 when the wrongdoing at 1MDB became public knowledge.

Others say that the beginning of the end for Najib happened when he sacked ‎Muhyiddin Yassin as deputy prime minister and Mukhriz Mahathir as Kedah menteri besar after they questioned him about his role in the 1MDB scandal. 

This move set the stage for the formation of Bersatu. In March last year, Bersatu joined the Pakatan Harapan coalition,

‎Dr Mahathir was appointed chairman of PH in July 2017.

“It was a coalition of different bases and he reined them in and gave them a focal point of attack: the removal of prime minister Najib Razak,” said Universiti Malaya political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi.

To convince his new political comrades and Malaysians that he was worth following, Awang Azman said Dr Mahathir leveraged his 22-year record as prime minister and the fact that the history books have already written about his leadership. It was a way to let the younger voters know that the country would be in good hands.

“The older ones would remember Vision 2020, the construction of the Petronas Twin Towers and the economic growth rate during his tenure.”

Awang Azman described Dr Mahathir as a superb tactician.

“He was decisive in discarding PAS. And he did not hesitate to use the PKR logo, knowing it would both be easily recognised and that it would symbolise unity with Anwar Ibrahim, especially for PKR supporters.”

He also cited the writing of letters to the chiefs of security forces and the police, as well as roping in former finance minister Daim Zainuddin as well-thought out moves that only an experienced, former prime minister could have crafted.

Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, also enjoys a good reputation among rural Malay voters, enabling him to enter many Felda settlements once off-limits to opposition parties.

“The Malays were willing to vote for Dr Mahathir because they know he will not allow Malay privileges to be compromised by DAP and other coalition partners,” said James Chin, director of the Asia Institute in the University of Tasmania.

“Another big factor was also Najib Razak and the toxic brand of Umno, due to campaigning by Pakatan in the past five years,” he added.

Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia scholar at John Cabot University, believes that Dr Mahathir now holds more political sway than even during his 22-year premiership.

“His mandate was massive coming into office. We’re talking about 20% to 25% swings in voters across in constituencies,” Welsh said during a televised interview with Al-Jazeera today.

Welsh expects Dr Mahathir’s term in office to be relatively brief.

“He’s also a man in a hurry. He’s not planning to stay long. This is going to create a dynamism in the administration which will be very important as we move forward,” she said.

His stay at the top may be brief but years from now, they will speak of that day in May when he lead the movement to save Malaysia.

Expect his legend to only grow. – May 12, 2018.