The man who would be PM
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I gifted you the mortal world
To rule the lands and do as you please
And now you impious earth worm
You dare to claim your father’s throne?
– Pretender To The Throne (opus I: The Usurper’s Spawn)
Malaysiakini – If Ku Li can be PM, why can’t I, jests Azmin
Anwar Ibrahim states that, should he be jailed after the 109 court verdict, Pakatan will have an interim prime minister until he (Anwar) is released by a Pakatan government.
Azmin Ali, when asked whether Tengku Razaleigh (Ku Li) will be headhunted to act as the interim PM, was reported to have ‘jested’ why shouldn’t he (Azmin) be the interim PM?
May I just comment that I doubt he was jesting!
Just a reminder – this post is about Azmin Ali and not Anwar Ibrahim. However, in writing about Azmin’s ambition, it’s not possible to avoid mentioning Anwar as well because really, without the latter’s unquestioning support and endorsement of Azmin, the question in Malaysian politics would likely have been: “Who in the world is this Azmin Ali?”
Anwar’s unreserved support of Azmin Ali is well-known to all, and thus I’m not revealing any State or PKR secret, nor am I bashing Anwar.
Azmin Ali’s ascendancy to become PKR’s No 2 has been charted by him personally (in this, he’s certainly ambitious) and endorsed unquestioningly by Anwar Ibrahim. Like a dodgem car, he had bulldozed both Nallakaruppan and Zaid Ibrahim aside in PKR party elections, naturally with the ‘help’ of Anwar and the inner coterie.
We have been told that in a PKR party election some years back, Anwar instructed Nalla not to contest the remaining VP position because the former wanted Azmin Ali to take up that post, a vital one for Azmin if he is to eventually ascend to the deputy presidency.
Naturally an outraged Nalla left PKR in acrimonious circumstances, not unlike Anwar himself when he was expelled unceremoniously from UMNO. Both felt a sense of grave injustice to their respective selves, perceived or otherwise. Given this, it’s bizarre Anwar didn’t consider Nalla’s feelings, but then again, maybe not!
But I wasn’t surprised when the anwaristas pinned the label of traitor or UMNO Trojan Horse unjustly on Nalla, as they did REPETITIVELY on anyone who left PKR in unfriendly circumstances, usually in dispute or in disgust with Azmin Ali or/and Anwar Ibrahim.
It would not be too far-fetched to say, without that dictatorial and most un-reformasi marginalization, Nalla could well have been PKR’s No 2 today, what with the depth of the Indian ranks then in that party.
As for Zaid Ibrahim, I have always lamented his incorrect decision to opt for membership in PKR instead of DAP, but I suspect he wanted to provide himself as an alternative to Azmin, who was not well thought of by many in PKR but whose position has been so well entrenched because of his godfather’s favouritism.
As I had written in other posts, Zaid attempted to persuade, firstly, Khalid Ibrahim to go for PKR’s No 2 position, and then, when Khalid dared not challenge Azmin, encouraged Nurul Izzah (a poor choice if I may say, because of her age, lack of seniority and inexperience) to do so.
Initially Nurul showed some interests, very much to Azmins’ alarm who ‘advised’ her not to because (the brazen hypocrisy of it all) people would ‘talk’ about her relationship with dad. She suddenly withdrew for reasons you may wish to speculate on. I would not be at all surprised to learn that Azmin is far far more favoured than her – no, most certainly not at all surprised!
Thus, when Zaid saw both Khalid and Nurul declining, he knew that unless he offered himself as a candidate for the No 2 position, Azmin Ali would have a free ride all the way to the top, and I mean the ‘top’ because we all know too well that Wan Azizah has been and still is a reluctant politician, thus making the PKR No 2 virtually the de facto president.
Obviously de facto-ism exists abundantly in PKR.
