The announcement of a new opposition party headed by Mahathir Mohamad and featuring some of the most prominent of Umno’s fallen rebels represents a major milestone in the former PM’s crusade against Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Mahathir’s party looks set to be aligned with PKR, DAP and Amanah in a new opposition coalition, and this has ignited a debate among supporters of the opposition.

Many are concerned over the power balance of the new set-up. A question frequently raised is: who will the coalition put forward as its Prime Minister-designate? That person has to be a dynamic and preferably charismatic figure. At any rate, he must be someone who is capable of the job of governing the country the moment he or she steps into office.

However, as many of us have come to realise in recent months, there is no clear candidate from either DAP, PKR or Amanah. But neither is there one from the new party. Mahathir himself is way past his prime. If he were to put forward Muhyiddin Yassin, or perhaps his son Mukhriz, opposition supporters may not find voting opposition all that attractive a proposition given Muhyiddin’s reluctance to step up to the plate and Mukhriz’s relative newness to the game of politics.

In any case, few opposition supporters can be convinced that these personalities have entirely shed their Umno culture. Many will balk at the idea of any one of them leading the opposition.

However, putting aside the question of leadership of the new coalition, Mahathir’s announcement that his party would work with other opposition parties to defeat BN was welcome news indeed for Pakatan Harapan supporters.

The new party must direct its appeal to the considerable conservative pockets of voters. It must cut into PAS’ following if it is to have any true significance in its partnership with DAP, PKR and Amanah. It is apparent that PAS has no plans to cooperate with Pakatan anytime soon. As such it must be assumed to be hostile.

Mahathir must now convince the rakyat that his way is the right one. If he cannot, then this new development would make for a rather depressing bookend to the career of one of the world’s most famous politicians.