Muhyiddin is merely the midwife for the resurrection of the Old Order (Umno).

He told Bersatu and Pakatan leaders that had he accepted Umno and Barisan Nasional en bloc (42 seats) on the pretext that DAP (42 seats) had to be sacked from the government, he would have to accept Najib, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan and the rest. Even if they did not demand that charges against them be dropped on Day 1, they would do so further down the road, and within six months.

Three months have now passed, and Mahathir was right.

Muhyiddin is hoping to divide Pakatan Harapan and its allies. Threats, pressure and dirty tactics are now being applied to opposition MPs in the hope that some of us will break. If Muhyiddin can increase his majority to 125 seats in the next two weeks, he will be able to walk into Parliament on July 13 in style, feeling secure in his seat. If so, he may sit comfortably in power for a while, before starting out on an authoritarian path to crush any new threat to his rule.

But Muhyiddin still has Umno, especially Najib, breathing over his shoulder, waiting for their chance to overthrow him as prime minister and fully restore the Old Order in which Umno reigns supreme.

Umno (Barisan Nasional) and PAS together have 60 seats in Parliament, and can therefore trigger a snap election by suddenly pulling out of the Perikatan coalition.

Malaysia ruling party in disarray as Mahathir says Muhyiddin faces sack

Another possible scenario keeps closer to the present situation. Should Muhyiddin fail to boost his majority in the next two weeks and would therefore need to avoid the July sitting of Parliament, he may pursue a September/October general election, as is currently being rumoured. In doing that, he hopes to secure a fresh mandate. The situation is getting desperate for him, and it would be pointless for his government to go before an unchanged Parliament with its Budget 2021 as it would in all likelihood not have the necessary support on the floor.

In considering an early election, Muhyiddin is hoping that Umno and PAS will accommodate his faction of Bersatu in seat negotiations.

Malaysians who toppled the Old Order (Umno) in 2018 should be aware that Perikatan’s situation is precarious and that the only way for us to prevent a full restoration of the Old Order (Umno) is to put our differences aside, mobilise, and gear up for a general election in three months’ time.

We can keep the fight within Parliament only if Muhyiddin and Najib know they are unlikely to win a general election even if they form a tight electoral pact where they avoid contesting against each other – and such an agreement between them is indeed a tall order.

Mahathir and Anwar

Whether we are mobilised for a general election or seek to restore the Pakatan government, both Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim will have to fully realise that they have to come together – and not just as a coalition of convenience, but as a solid progressive coalition fighting a protracted war against the Old Order (Umno).

The Old Order (Umno) is not going to just go away and disappear. It will take years to make kleptocrats like Najib accountable for their crimes. It will also take years to develop a government free of corruption and to shape a democracy that serves the interests of ordinary Malaysians.

Mahathir and Anwar, and the forces aligned to them, should recognise that if we make it back to power, we will need to build a government that has a strong cabinet, a strong Parliament, and a prime ministership that is more collegial and consultant, and less dominant.

During their 22 months in office, Mahathir and Pakatan did in fact reduce the powers and the reach of the prime minister’s office and department. Economic planning was moved to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Attempts were made to return agencies with duplicating functions to their respective ministries. For instance, public transport is no longer a function of the prime minister’s department but, rightly, a part of the Ministry of Transport.

But the structure and spirit underpinning the Malaysian prime ministership are still relics of a one-party state.

Mahathir slams Muhyiddin for calling probes into his allies

Moving forward, we need to recognise that coalition governments will remain the norm in Malaysian politics. For coalition governments to keep together – in the present case, for forces aligned to Mahathir and Anwar to coexist for the long haul – it is important that a format is created in which all sides feel comfortable, even when their leader is NOT the prime minister.

Managing differences or even distrust, and building a coalition government that can stand the test of time and crises should be a major concern for political leaders.

I hope both Mahathir and Anwar see their historic roles akin to that of Nelson Mandela’s. Not the Mandela that was in jail for 27 years but President Mandela who knew that his responsibility was – in a short span of time in office – to lay a solid foundation that can last a generation or two.

Malaysians unite

After 100 days under the Old Order (Umno), many Malaysians now realise that while the Pakatan government was not perfect, it was trying to do good. It was perhaps clumsy, but it was honest.

As soon as the government changed after the 2018 Malaysian general election (GE14), the mainstream media and those who had written off Pakatan’s chance to win went all out to “hold Pakatan accountable” under the toughest scrutiny. It is interesting to note that these media outlets have not applied the same level of scrutiny to the Perikatan government.

The Pakatan government was held to a standard of perfection. Such moralising sentiments quickly permeated many Malaysians. Friends in civil society also took on this line of distrust very early on. What we should learn is that framing and context are very important.

Malaysia: economic fears as political patronage raises Najib-era ghost

Winning GE14 was the collective effort of millions of Malaysians. What happened on May 9, 2018 was not a normal change of governments as happens in Australia, the United Kingdom and other democracies.

GE14 was a peaceful and bloodless uprising of the people against an Old Order (Umno) governed by kleptocrats. It was the first democratic transition from an authoritarian state to a nascent democracy in the region.

A new democracy needs nurturing and consolidation. During Pakatan’s time in power, whenever I was asked about the transition from Mahathir to Anwar, I kept repeating that the real transition is that of hand-holding Malaysia in its conversion from an authoritarian society to a democracy, and of resisting the push-back from the Old Order (Umno).

Malaysians should now understand that we all have to protect the fruits of democracy together. To build back better, we need everyone who dreams of clean government and of democratic space to come together, and in our turn, to push back the Old Order (Umno).

The next hundred days will be crucial.

This piece originally appeared on Liew Chin Tong’s blog.