By Niza Shimi
My late father used to play Engelbert Humperdinck's “The Last Waltz” on the record player. The soulful melancholy tune was about lost love.
I can still remember the soothing crooner’s voice singing: "The last waltz should last forever. It's all over now. Nothing left to say. Just my tears and the orchestra playing".
This brings me to all things “last” in Malaysia’s political showdown as the 15th general elections (GE15) near. There are a lot of last kopeks (Malay slang term for last chance) going on.
Take the appeal by former Prime Minister (PM8) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to vote for him and his coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) as it would be his last election.
Who could forget that Muhyiddin, a cancer survivor, made international news in June 2020 when he was hospitalized for diarrhea? Obviously, he survived that.
Should voters choose him out of sympathy? What if he, you know…
But there’s more. Democratic Action Party (DAP) has used all shades and meanings of the last kopek in the case of the member of parliament for Klang Charles Santiago being dropped for GE15.
Selangor DAP chief Gobind Singh Deo said Santiago knew that GE14 was his last stand/ last run. DAP’s Anthony Loke reiterated that GE14 was Santiago’s last term. But the man himself, Santiago, begs to differ.
The Star reported Santiago as saying, "Please don't tarnish my image to manage backlash as I was never informed that 2018 would be my last term," said Santiago on Facebook on Friday (Oct 28).
But the ultimate last kopek has to be former PM4 and PM7 Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s claim as reported by the South China Morning Post on October 22, 2022, that GE15 would be his last effort.
Dr. Mahathir was quoted as saying: “I don’t have to continue. In fact, I don’t want to continue,” he told This Week in Asia at his spacious office in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.
“But my own supporters felt that this should be my last effort because although I am 97 years old, I am still functional, I can still move around, be active, still debate, and make speeches.
“They felt that I should still, for the last time, perhaps lead the party. I cannot deny them for selfish reasons. If I’m only thinking about myself, I will not be in politics now.”
Whoever his supporters are, it is painful to watch him trying to project the image that he still has what it takes to be PM. We can see that he's not the man he used to be. He is merely mortal.
Being PM is not about sympathy votes. It is not about making speeches.
If Tun M couldn't get a grip on his Cabinet during his second term as PM under the Pakatan Harapan government, being forced to resign due to lack of support or whatever the claim is, would he face the same dilemma for a third term? Is that what Malaysia needs?
Can Malaysia survive without him as PM? A PM has to be more than someone who can walk and talk. He was to walk the talk.
Being PM is a huge responsibility that only the able and capable should apply for the job. If these endless last kopeks are any indication, GE15 could very well be like Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn. There will be no survivors.
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