Like it or not, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has succeeded to a large extent in breaking out from what he described as a media blackout of his critical views on successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

One does not even have to agree with anything Mahathir has said so far to acknowledge this new fact of life in Malaysian politics.

A few months ago, the man who was glorified almost on a daily basis in the mainstream media for 22 years, complained that his views were being toned down or canned by the new administration which he had accused of controlling and manipulating the media against him.

But a day after his June 7 scathing attack on Abdullah, his views and photos were splashed on the front-pages of all the major dailies, save for Umno-controlled Utusan Malaysia, which opted to lead with a milder 'Najib responds to Dr M criticism'.

For those who are sympathetic with Abdullah, the wide and prominent coverage of Mahathir's criticism shows that Abdullah is liberal and open-minded enough to tolerate even personal attacks against him in the mainstream media which he can actually control as prime minister and internal security minister.

This effectively rebuts an earlier accusation made by Mahathir that Abdullah's supporters in the media are conspiring against the latter.

New stratergy

However, for Mahathir's supporters and political observers, the fact that even the unapologetic pro-Abdullah New Straits Times has to publish Mahathir's statements and photograph on the front-page shows that the former prime minister's new media strategy works to exert sufficient quantum of competitive dynamic and moral pressure on the mainstream media to take him seriously.

Otherwise, its credibility would erode further as more and more Malaysians have access to alternative media, whether in cyberspace or elsewhere.

Mahathir's new media strategy was detected by discerning observers when he suddenly declared at an international conference last year that the Internet could contribute to 'peace'.

Subsequently, PAS organ Harakah Daily and a website KMU Dot Net - purportedly operated by Umno supporters - provided a platform for the octogenarian.

Mahathir also accepted a six-year long invitation from malaysiakini and granted an interview with the online news organisation - which his administration, or some elements of it, had tried to clamp down in the past.

The situation began to change as his criticism trickled out. Initially, he was dismissed by junior ministers but as Mahathir escalated his attack, he could no longer be ignored.

Now, senior ministers - past and present - have to be drafted to defend Abdullah from his predecessor's onslaught.

Yin and Yang

On the same note, there are two points worth mentioning:

  1. The fact that most of the pro-establishment newspapers decided to give prominence to Mahathir's criticism could be a deliberate strategy on the part of Abdullah and his strategists to pave the way for a devastating counter-attack and/or to create the impression that the status quo is under threat from an 'irrational ex-autocrat'.

  2. The decision of the pro-establishment media to open up its pages to Mahathir's salvo could indicate the realisation on the part of Abdullah and his supporters that if they continued to execute Mahathir's media strategy when he was in power from 1981 to 2003, one day the same strategy could backfire if and when they are also out of power.

Mahathir is not a novice in politics. The longevity of his rule and his personal history of political maneuvering - both as a rebel and a man of establishment - testify to his mastery.

Unlike Abdullah who has essentially been a bureaucrat and diplomat, Mahathir was a rebel who fought his way up - a true politician who could ward off all his opponents.

So, to use a Taoist paradigm, the rift between Mahathir and Abdullah is a contest between Yin and Yang, or the soft and the hard.

The unfolding process of this bout leading up to next year's Umno elections is certainly a main line to follow in Malaysia's politics of transition and transformation.

What should not be forgotten is that the media battle is only one aspect of the contest. There are also ground wars which are out of the public's view. Put together, they will determine Abdullah's fate.