On the eve of polling day, Dr Mahathir Mohamad rode a helicopter to Cameron Highlands in a vain bid to convince voters to cast their ballots for Pakatan Harapan. This was strike one for the coalition.

Early this month, the prime minister's party Bersatu had failed to retain the Semenyih state seat in another by-election. Strike two.

Now, all eyes are on Mahathir's designated successor Anwar Ibrahim on whether he would be able to hit a home run in the Rantau by-election on April 13...