By Chew Lip Song

CRISES bring out the best and worst in humans. The recent political drama has allowed the people to see the true colours of politicians. Here are seven politicians who stood out the most during the week of high drama.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin

Before being appointed the eighth Prime Minister, Muhyiddin was known for speaking up against ex-PM Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak over 1MDB. This is unconventional because as the then DPM, he was within striking distance of the country’s top post. But he broke ranks and paid the price by being sacked. He then joined Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to topple the BN government in the 2018 general election.

Days before being made PM, Dr Mahathir expressed disappointment with Muhyiddin for the latter’s willingness to work even with disgraced Umno leaders. Malaysiakini quoted Dr Mahathir as saying: “Muhyiddin is willing to accept anything. He said politics is more important than principles.”

Datuk Seri Azmin Ali

The former PKR deputy president and Economics Affairs Minister was hanging on to Dr Mahathir’s coattails like his life depended on it. In fact, his “political life” was, as Azmin’s rift with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim grew. Azmin had numerous times called on Dr Mahathir to stay as PM for the full term. This was despite a tacit understanding within Pakatan Harapan that Dr Mahathir would hand over power mid-term.

Barely had the Dr Mahathir-led PH reached two years in power, Azmin found himself a key protagonist in the bloc that masterminded the coup d’etat to remove Dr Mahathir.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

This whole crisis originated from disputes over the timing of Dr Mahathir’s handover of the premiership to him. But even for a man known to be a political chameleon that dates back to his Umno days, when it came to crunch time last week, it was all about himself. Swinging like a pendulum on steroids, at first he and his supporters pressured Dr Mahathir into giving an exact date for retirement. When Dr Mahathir quit as PM and Bersatu left PH, he, together with the DAP and Amanah gave their full support to PM7. The backing didn’t last very long as he his supporters then presented to the King that they wanted Anwar as PM8. But as Muhyiddin was gathering strength, Anwar swung back to Dr Mahathir, leaving Anwar’s dream to be PM as just that – a dream.

Baru Bian

The former Works Minister was brought up in a strict religious environment. Prior to joining politics, the legally-trained Baru had been actively defending customary land rights of underprivileged Sarawakians and was also involved in environmental issues.

In PKR, despite being the State party chairman, Baru never saw eye-to-eye with Anwar. His animosity with the party president ran deep and this made him join Azmin and nine other PKR MPs in leaving the party to form a new government with Muhyiddin. Days later, Baru switched sides again, this time supporting Dr Mahathir.

Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah

He is another ex-Umno leader who was ill at ease with the shenanigans happening in the party, such as 1MDB and the extreme racial posturing. Before Saifuddin quit Umno to join PKR, Najib had made him head of the Global Movement of Moderates, an outfit that promotes moderation. As a relatively new leader in PKR, he didn’t have much baggage in terms of political affiliation with the warring factions there. But in the end, he went with Azmin, knowing full well that Perikatan Nasional would be a single race-dominated government.

Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg

The Sarawak Chief Minister and head of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) ruling coalition had carved a reputation for being a moderate. He had many times spoken up against parties like PAS for their extremist views. But when when push came to shove, Abang Johari, with 17 other MPs in his coalition, backed Perikatan Nasional, which PAS was a key player in.

Dr Maszlee Malik

As the Education Minister, Maszlee was the favourite whipping boy of netizens for his persistent gaffes, from policies on black shoes to views on the quota system. He was the only Minister from the PH government who resigned. During the political crisis, he showed strength of character by posting on social media that despite his loyalty to Muhyiddin, he was not going to betray the people’s trust. “The people’s interests come before political interests,” he wrote. He had since received praises from netizens for the stance.