Zaid Ibrahim: Anwar will not save Najib

Zaid Ibrahim, fz.com

DATUK  A. Kadir Jasin is well connected to the powers that be. He is close to Tun Daim Zainuddin and has the ear of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad. He is also friendly with Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim; after all, Kadir came up through the newspaper ranks when Anwar was ruling the waves.

As the former strongman of the New Straits Times, whatever Kadir says needs to be taken seriously. He has predicted that Anwar will rejoin UMNO and assume the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, suggesting that there will be a Cabinet reshuffle soon. This coincides with a story that’s making the rounds that current DPM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Dr Mahathir are about to pull off a grand putsch to topple Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak from power.

I have no trouble believing that Dr Mahathir and the current DPM are motivated to unseat the Prime Minister, although I question the feasibility of such a move. It was different with former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi because he was ready to retire. He was not prepared to take on his attackers in the party when he was PM. He just smiled when I suggested he should sack a few Ministers to show he was the boss. That’s why he was pushed out rather easily. Najib, on the other hand, will want to continue as PM and he will not allow others to push him out without a fight.

But if Najib’s idea of putting up a fight is to bring Anwar in, then it will be the second biggest blunder UMNO will ever make (the biggest blunder is suspending Zaid Ibrahim in 2008). Anwar will not save Najib. He will probably give Najib a few months to pack his bags before taking over. He may be given the No 2 slot but Anwar will run the country from day one. Anwar’s ambition is to be PM and that’s all that matters to him.

He will go around the country telling weary and unsuspecting mak ciks and pak ciks and the overexcited Chinese crowd that he has grand plans for the country, where the people can live together happily ever after. He already speaks of a clean government and principled politics but is quietly unleashing a coup d’état against his own Menteri Besar, who has been working hard to administer an honest state government. He describes UMNO as the real evil which must be destroyed, even as he sends his men to London to negotiate his re-entry into the party. This is the real Anwar at work.

So I hope the Prime Minister will not proceed with this plan, if it’s true. It will only hasten his own departure. Instead, he should focus on the real reconciliation, which is with the rakyat and not political leaders. Provide more economic help to small businessmen of all races and they will be united as a people. Develop affordable housing schemes for the rakyat of all races so they can live together. Do not worry about vernacular schools – they will not be so attractive if the PM succeeds in making national schools the first choice for parents, as they were in the early days of independence. Work with PAS leaders in Kelantan and with Khalid in Selangor to develop both the states into real economic powerhouses, which will help the Malays in the rural heartland. This is the way to longevity in the PM’s office, not playing musical chairs and pulling cheap political tricks. Politicians like Anwar should not be rewarded.