They need people in power that look silly and incompetent to carry out the worst parts of the agenda. If they appeared competent while carrying out the agenda, people would actually put a stop to it.
This gives them a disposable leader that can absorb blowback for the worst actions without it being attributed to "the team". Gives flexibility in replacing them later while retaining core voters / public sheep opinion.
Well if I were social-engineering a country to nefarious ends, I’d definitely want that appearance. So I think you’re onto something