SORRY, but no, we are not talking about birthday bashes here.

Bersatu made the headlines last week for “stopping” the memberships of five MPs, including Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and the ensuing drama, such as rumours that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof and Deputy Works Minister Shahruddin Md Salleh would leave the government. The duo have dismissed the speculation, for now.

I have been active in civil society since my college years. When I was part of a student movement, one concept that my seniors drilled in me was, “an organisation is always greater than its individuals”. Not only has this shaped my perspective on how things work in an organisation, but to a certain extent, it also changed my world view.

Therefore, I found it somewhat amusing that Dr Mahathir barged into the office of a party he is no longer a member of. It was a theatrical stunt that highlighted the fact that he believes he is above the party. A political maverick with a personal agenda, in other words.

The Bersatu episode is not his first time being involved in a party leadership crisis. Lest we forget, he was instrumental in defying the first president of Umno after the 1969 general election. In Dr Mahathir’s politics, the party leadership is of little import, and the only party he is content with is one that he can rule with an iron fist.

This was most evident in 1987, when he excluded his detractors from his hurriedly formed “New” Umno, following the deregistration of its predecessor.

Party ideology clearly does not matter to the oldest politician in Malaysia. The party’s struggle is also something he is not too concerned with. To Dr Mahathir, what is of utmost importance is that he has substantial control over the party, no matter the circumstances. Not even the Malay agenda, which he has never shied away from advocating, can surpass this. There is no stopping the man’s ambition.

As an Umno splinter, Bersatu’s ideology is almost identical to that of the Barisan Nasional lynchpin. Its existence had been solely to serve as a platform for its founder, Dr Mahathir, and his gang to take on the then ruling BN in the elections. The only difference between the parties is that Bersatu vowed to right BN’s wrongs.

Two months after it was established, Bersatu joined Pakatan Harapan. Guided by a paper-thin manifesto, the pact set out to topple BN. The rest, as they say, is history.

When the majority of Bersatu left PH to join forces with other parties and form Perikatan Nasional, it revealed the reason behind Dr Mahathir’s falling-out with the party he founded. Although he did want to leave PH, as implicated by leaked recordings and his meetings with those involved in the “Sheraton Move”, he wanted the departure to happen on his own terms – and that means forming a Malay government without the individuals he deems corrupt. In fact, Dr Mahathir would have been perfectly fine with helming the PN government should his demand be met.

This remains the biggest schism between Dr Mahathir and Bersatu, and what motivates him to rebel against the party. To him, Bersatu has strayed from his personal interests, which he equates to the party’s interests.

The party was merely an expedient tool for his political ambitions. Nonetheless, being in a party means one has to play by the rules, something that Dr Mahathir has never been a fan of. This is why he wished to form a unity government without anyone who could hold him to account.

I am in no way supporting the Bersatu coup, but one must not ignore the implications of the precedents he has set for the country’s democratic institutions in his relentless pursuit of power and control, as well as his disdain for rules and regulations.

Even now, amid the continuing threat of Covid-19, Dr Mahathir has shown no sign of wanting to call it a day. No matter where the chips may fall as a result of the Sheraton Move, the one who sits on the throne will still be a product of Umno. Even if the prime minister’s position is to somehow be handed back to Dr Mahathir – or Anwar Ibrahim, for that matter – the country’s politics will not be rid of the Umno/BN DNA if the top leadership remains the same faces we have been seeing for decades.

Feuds among the Umno elite will continue to plague the nation, pushing it into stagnation, whether politically, socially or economically.

The way I see it, there are two ways to get out of this mess. First, the political giants finally retire, passing the party leadership baton to the next generation. Perhaps, one good outcome of the Sheraton Move is that Dr Mahathir is no longer in charge of the country. Let’s hope it marks the end of an era.

The better option is to start building a third force to rise to the task. It is high time we part ways with the old politics we have always known. – June 1, 2020.

* Kelvin Lee is a member of Agora Society. Both a dreamer and realist, he is constantly figuring out ways to balance the two. He believes that by defying the norm, one can pave the way for a better future.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.