FACING their first hurdle after winning the 14th general election, some politicians reverted to type and went back to heckling the administration.

For years, that was how most opposition politicians worked: heckle long enough to get changes done. But is it necessary when you’re part of the coalition running the country?

This is something PKR’s Rafizi Ramli and Wong Chen must understand. Their victory in GE14 was unexpected, even if their research outfit, Invoke, made bold predictions.

If PKR was confident of victory, it wouldn’t have moved Nurul Izzah Anwar from Lembah Pantai to Permatang Pauh, Anwar Ibrahim’s political fortress, which had always stood by the party.

The same goes for PAS, which won 18 federal seats and recaptured Terengganu. They can crow all they want, but the fact that party president Abdul Hadi Awang did not stand in the Ru Rendang state seat showed their level of confidence in winning back the state.

All of this means one thing: their victories in GE14 were due to the headwinds of anger that swept Barisan Nasional out from power. It was a showdown between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Razak, and the sixth prime minister lost.

With that, Dr Mahathir became prime minister with Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as his deputy. Would it be fair to assume she would have sat in with Dr Mahathir to decide on the cabinet appointments with the other allies in Pakatan Harapan?

Both of Rafizi and Wong Chen’s outbursts on social media suggested they either had no faith in their party president’s abilities, and objected to make sure PKR was heard because they were the biggest party in the coalition, or that they heckled as a matter of course.

The simple truth is that BN lost the general election more than PH had won it. Choose the best you have to run the country, just as much as your party chose the best to contest the polls.  

Did you guys heckle when some candidates were dropped? No.

So allow Dr Mahathir to choose his cabinet and get to work. If they fail to deliver the 10 promises in 100 days, then make the appropriate noises. Because right now, you sound as arrogant as the people who lost to you. – May 14, 2018.