KUALA LUMPUR – Although the “Sheraton Move” was the beginning of the end of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government last February, former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas said cracks started with mismanagement.
“Primary responsibility for the failure to manage the PH coalition rests with its leader, (former) prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The buck stops at the desk of the PH leader,” Thomas wrote in his latest book, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness.
Thomas went on to slam Dr Mahathir, saying that the Langkawi MP failed to assert his leadership when the cabinet was formed.
He added that cabinet members, sometimes from the same party, contradicted each other, going against the principles of collective ministerial responsibility.
He also described Dr Mahathir with a quote that Winston Churchill used on Russia: “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
And a riddle Dr Mahathir was for his PH colleagues, Thomas wrote, especially when the nonagenarian publicly criticised the Malay community.
“A politician uses his base as a platform to increase his support elsewhere. Donald Trump, for all his stupidity, was smart enough to refrain from attacking his base.”
Thomas served as Malaysia’s AG from 2018 to last year, up until the fall of the PH government in late February.
Despite the AG’s Chambers being an office independent of politics, Thomas resigned from his position when he realised the fall of PH was inevitable.
He said he could not see himself serving current Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and neither would the Pagoh MP seek Thomas’ services.
My Story: Justice in the Wilderness is available for purchase from Gerakbudaya’s website. – The Vibes, January 31, 2021
