Anwar squashed by Najib’s speech
We all know now that the apologists’ scenario is croc: if Anwar had truly secured the numbers, especially the incredible defection of 30 Umno MPs from Sabah, he would have clawed his way into Putrajaya come hell or high water, Malay unity be damned.
By Azmi Anshar, New Straits Times
SEPT 16 has two nuances – the real deal of celebrating Malaysia Day where Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah ganged up to form Malaysia back in 1963 and the false synopsis – the date transfixed by Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the day 30-odd Umno parliamentarians would betray the party to shift power to the party of the pretender.
Sept 16, 2008, the date of political infamy promised by Anwar as the day he would snatch Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional and installed himself as premier, came and went unceremoniously: the brother is still the undemocratically anointed leader of PKR, still facing a sodomy rap and still shrieking away as his Pakatan Rakyat cohorts in Pas and DAP muscles in into PKR territory.
Despite the fiasco that Anwar scripted, some apologists insisted in claiming that the PKR de facto leader commanded the numbers to topple the BN federal government, only that he dropped the ball in the last moment on the account that he did not want to “break” Malay unity and create unprecedented political bedlam.
We all know now that the apologists’ scenario is croc: if Anwar had truly secured the numbers, especially the incredible defection of 30 Umno MPs from Sabah, he would have clawed his way into Putrajaya come hell or high water, Malay unity be damned.
The truth of the matter is Anwar did make the devil’s offer, only that none of the MPs bit notwithstanding the intense advances. But of course, in rejecting Anwar’s bidding price, the Sabahans enjoyed newfound attention, more so as the party’s kingmakers.
Defections between BN and PR elected representatives are a regular highlight for as long as there are politics but Anwar’s proffer will be seen as the most outrageous.
The Sept 16 fiasco became a key rallying cry when Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak wrapped up the party’s three-day general assembly yesterday, alluding to that moment has to why Umno have to always remain vigilant against being blindsided by the opposition, especially one of Anwar’s scheming.
Najib’s speech, peppered with inspired battle cries and clarion call to arms, was the harbinger to the 13th general election expected next year. His animated hints could not be clearer.
But the key elements of his speeches, including the presidential address on Thursday, are also much more than that: it is an earnest expression of a true democrat.
In all his calls for winnable candidates and caution against the Opposition’s undemocratic forays, Umno and their BN brethren, remain committed to the idea of democracy, that everyone shall vote according to their conscience because the vote is free from any political interventions.
Because the vote is free, Najib’s warning also include the prospects of BN still losing crucial seats and that future sequence of events is something BN and Umno must work and battle hard to resist.
Still, the tone of his speech strongly suggest a deep and unshakeable confidence, that in the arduous campaign ahead, his party will prevail handsomely.
