Anwar trying to ‘buy’ over Putrajaya
Once again, the opposition leader is said to be talking to those in Sabah and Sarawak who are willing to make the switch once the general election is over.
(FMT) – In the aftermath of the 2008 general election, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim set the political landscape ablaze with his Sept 16 takeover plan.
The plan was for several Barisan Nasional MPs, especially those from Sabah and Sarawak, to cross over and tilt the scales in favour of Pakatan Rakyat.
But the blaze fizzled out and the plot failed to materialise.
Some had claimed that it was because the businessman with deep pockets bankrolling the opposition and Anwar had refused to dig deeper into his pockets.
Despite being burnt once, blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin claimed that Anwar was once again treading the same path.
“They say Anwar has no desire in building PKR in Sabah and Sarawak and his game plan is to woo the current crop of MPs from BN to jump ship and join PKR,” he said in his Malaysia Today blog.
“In other words, Anwar does not plan to win the elections in Sabah and Sarawak. He wants to ‘steal’ the BN wakil rakyat after the next general election and form the government via crossovers.”
Raja Petra said that former PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kittingan was opposed to the idea as there would be no guarantee of loyalty from these MPs.
“As Perak had proven: if you could buy BN wakil rakyat that would mean they are for sale and hence it would also mean that BN could always buy them back at a higher price.
“Hence Jeffrey told Anwar that he is not prepared under any circumstances to accept these BN turncoats. That basically put a spanner in Anwar’s works.”
Furthermore, Raja Petra said, Jeffrey had expressed concern that such a move would require the opposition to “give way” to these candidates and help them win these seats.
Realising that Jefrrey would pose a problem, Raja Petra said Anwar was using Sabah PKR leader Ansari Abdullah to check the former.
“Hence it has now become a Muslim leader versus a Christian leader issue. Anwar is telling them that a Muslim and not a Christian must lead the opposition in Sabah, although the Muslims are not the majority in Sabah (or in Sarawak).
“Talk on the ground is that Ansari is being financially-backed by Chief Minister Musa Aman through his brother, Anifah, who is also closely linked to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
“With Najib’s nominee in Sabah, Anifah, and his brother, Musa, all playing a role behind the scenes, is Ansari working for Anwar or for Najib?”
