Malaysians must not allow the abuses of social media – lies, falsehoods and fake news –to take a new form in rewriting history as in denying the existence of Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020 and blaming DAP for plotting the toppling of Mahathir Mohammad as Prime Minister of Pakatan Harapan Government.
An attempt was made by the Bersatu Deputy President to use lies, falsehoods and fake news to rewrite such history which, writer Kee Thuan Chye has described in his FaceBook as “the most ridiculous and dishonest thing” he ever heard.
The Sheraton Move political conspiracy was based on lies, falsehoods and fake news, which included the wild and preposterous allegations that the Prime Minister, was a “stooge” of DAP and that the Mahathir government was “DAP-dominated”.
Mahathir is on public record as stating that “All the talk about the DAP having me under their thumb or the DAP plotting to take over the country was utter nonsense” and he said that he never felt any pressure from the DAP when he was Prime Minister.
I attended the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council meeting on the night of 21 February 2020.
Mahathir was told by Muhyiddin Yassin and other Bersatu leaders before the meeting that he would be asked to step down in May 2020 and that Mahathir would be asked to appoint Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister, failing which Mahathir would be obliged to state the date of his relinquishment of the post of Prime Minister to Anwar.
None of this happened at the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council meeting.
There was no pressure on Mahathir to step down at any time, and he had full discretion to decide when he would retire, although he indicated at the meeting that he would step down after the APEC meeting at the end of the year.
I left the meeting thinking that Malaysia had survived a critical political test and was shocked when the Sheraton Move political conspiracy happened the following Sunday and Mahathir was toppled thereafter as Pakatan Harapan Prime Minister.
The Sheraton Move political conspiracy, built on lies, falsehoods and fake news that Mahathir was a DAP stooge and his government DAP-dominated, spawned two illegitimate and unconstitutional governments – the Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri governments.
We must not allow Bersatu spin-doctors and fraudsters to now rewrite history by denying that there was a Sheraton Move political conspiracy in February 2020 and to cleanse Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali of their historic sin by claiming that the DAP was plotting to topple Mahathir as Pakatan Harapan Prime Minister.