Will this be Anwar’s swan song?
Narinder Kaur, FMT
Facing a near political demise post-GE13, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim may well be trying his last shot via the backdoor to wiggle into the decision making seat of the Selangor state assembly.
Contesting in the Kajang state seat by-election speaks volumes of the man who never fails to accept the fact that he has been left standing alone, even by his generals like Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim.
The recent spat between the two on several controversial and hotly debated issues in Selangor was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Anwar has been extremely unhappy with various unilateral decisions made by Khalid despite projecting an image of unity and coherence within PKR.
Their collective public appearances and joint announcements have been a mirage and they cannot fool the public with the warmness they portray in public.
Rolling into power for second term in Selangor, PKR leaders have grown arrogant and are virtually ignorant of the woes of the general public.
They are more interested in fattening the state coffers and lining their pockets to the extent of brushing aside their so called ‘Sifu’ Anwar.
It has dented Anwar’s standing as the commanding officer of the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat.
It is a well known that neither DAP nor PAS ever needed Anwar in their struggle to capture more state and parliamentary seats in the last general election.
He lost his reformasi struggle long ago and got buried when other pro-opposition organisations like Bersih and various NGOs stood alone without the Anwar factor, in fighting Barisan Nasional.
Anwar is more worried about exacting personal vendetta, taking cold showers in the event he does not get the continuous personal and political support from the other influential members within PKR.
The ball started rolling when Khalid, on many occasions, grossly tapered Anwar’s ‘advises’ on how to manage and run the state government.
In essence, Khalid was persistently sending a strong message out that the state government need not be in tune with what Anwar thinks or wants to be done.
Selangor is the gold mine and Anwar just cannot accept the fact that he is slowly but surely being overshadowed by personalities like Khalid and Azmin Ali, who carry more weight and political might within the state legislature and policy making bodies.
Anwar’s platform was solely launched upon being ejected abruptly from Putrajaya by the then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad. It was not to champion the rakyat’s agenda per se but to vent his anger and frustration on the manner he was treated by BN leaders then.
But after 15 years, personal agenda will not work against BN, and this Anwar has begun to realise.
