The last general election was the sixth for Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the helm of a political coalition. But unlike the previous five when he was the head of BN, the nonagenarian did not win a two-thirds majority in Parliament, which allows for constitutional amendments.

However, speculation had been rife that Mahathir and those aligned to him, within and outside the government, have been working towards this aim and this is the reason Bersatu had opened its doors to former Umno lawmakers...