Reality bites Anwar, finally – The Malaysian Insider
Privately, several DAP and Pas leaders grumbled that the reverse in Perak would not have happened had Anwar had spent more time strengthening PKR’s structure on the ground and less time talking about forcing the collapse of the BN federal government through the crossovers of 31 BN MPs.
THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim knew this day would come. The day when he would have to put his much-vaunted coalition building skills to use to keep Pakatan Rakyat together and keep the dream of a two-party system here alive.
As soon as it became clear that the Barisan Nasional had managed to prise away three lawmakers from Pakatan Rakyat and wrest control of the Perak state government, it was only a question of when his disgruntled political comrades would train their guns on him.
For the first few days, Pakatan Rakyat politicians focused solely on the manner political power was handed over to BN by the royal household, displeased that the more acceptable method of testing the state government’s popularity through a show of hands in the state assembly was jettisoned in favour of a decision by one man.
They also slammed Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as the architect of the decision by the three Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers to become independents, painting him as some sort of a Machiavellian character.
But, privately, several DAP and Pas leaders grumbled that the reverse in Perak would not have happened had Anwar had spent more time strengthening PKR’s structure on the ground and less time talking about forcing the collapse of the BN federal government through the crossovers of 31 BN MPs.
They were troubled that, instead of using the momentum from wins in Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terengganu to strengthen the nascent coalition and forge an ideological platform acceptable to Pas, PKR and DAP, the focus seemed to be on snaring crossovers.
This approach was especially grating to DAP leaders like Karpal Singh and Lim Guan Eng and Pas politicians like Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Nasharuddin Mat Isa and the more conservative spine of the Islamists.
Today, Karpal fired the first salvo. The DAP chairman said that Anwar should step down as the head of Pakatan Rakyat.
“He has created enough trouble and it is time for him to bertaubat (repent). It is time Pakatan got itself another leader,” he told a press conference at his office in Penang.
He conceded that some members of PKR and DAP had fallen sway to the rhetoric of Anwar and supported the crossing over of elected representatives.
“Party hopping can never be justified as it can be compared with one murdering the very parents who were responsible for one’s birth upon reaching adulthood,’’ he said, noting that some DAP leaders had gone silent on this issue.
There is no love lost between Karpal and Anwar. They have clashed publicly over several issues, including Karpal’s harping on the hudud issue and the veteran lawyer’s tangling with the Malay Rulers just after Election 2008.
Anwar believes that instead of shooting from the hip, Karpal should embrace a more low-key method of resolving vexing questions between the coalition partners.
Karpal feels that too many principles are being sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.
The result: a simmering feud waiting to explode.
Following the Perak political crisis, some pent-up feelings and concerns about Anwar’s tactics have come to the surface.
Anwar and his supporters know that he is being blamed by some quarters for tactical naivety; for actually believing that Umno/BN would play dead after being taunted with the loss of Bota assemblymen Datuk Nashruddin Hashim.
The Opposition icon also knows now that a great many Malaysians actually do not support party-hopping or crossovers.
If there is one thing that Anwar must learn from Perak, it is that the public value their vote greater than political backroom play.
They want to be the ones who decide which government serves them.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Anwar has told friends that when he talked about BN MPs crossing over by September 16, it did not involve the use of money, coercion or other enticement.
It was simply a case of lawmakers from BN believing the ideals of a more inclusive Malaysia espoused by Pakatan Rakyat.
According to PKR sources, if there had been a mass crossover, Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat would have called for snap elections to obtain a fresh mandate.
That may have been the original strategy but the point remains that there are influential voices in Pakatan Rakyat who have been uncomfortable with the morality of the crossover approach from the start.
The fiasco in Perak appears to have given this group the courage to speak up against Anwar.
If the Opposition icon does not move fast to hush these voices of discontent, or at least assuage their fears, 2009 could be a long year for him and Pakatan Rakyat.
