Fire and Steel In Anwar’s Ambition And Desperation
A Kadir Jasin
WHAT is happening in the People’s Justice Party (PKR) today reminds me of the song “Torn Between Two Lovers” above and the 1979 TV movie of the same name that it inspired.
The party’s Ketua Umum (General Leader), (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim is torn between his loyal wife, (Datin Seri) Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and his loyal aide, Mohd Azmin Ali.
Like Diane (Lee Remick), the woman in the movie, who was torn between her husband and her lover, Anwar is torn between Dr Wan Azizah and Mohd Azmin.
But whereas Diane’ s love of the two men was a private affair, Anwar’s torment is public and political.
Dr Wan Azizah is the PKR President and Mohd Azmin is her deputy. But events in the party has locked the three of them in what The Star newspaper dubbed “a game of throne” – after the TV series of the same title based on the work of US writer George R.R. Martin.
In this developing drama, Anwar is torn between the two of them. The antagonist in the drama is the Menteri Besar of Selangor, (Tan Sri) Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. He is Mohd Azmin’s mortal enemy, but somebody Anwar could not conveniently get rid off.
So, to avoid Mohd Azmin challenging Dr Wan Azizah in the upcoming PKR election, he has to challenge his wife and, hopefully, win the post.
This is a political drama at it’s most ridiculous – if I can put it that way. Anwar fears that if Mohd Azmin is allowed to challenge Dr Wan Azizah, he will win and with that victory he can act on Abdul Khalid.
Mohd Azmin may continue to be loyal to Anwar but with the power that the job offers, he could gradually wean himself of Anwar’s influence, more so when the latter faces the prospects of spending four years in jail for sodomy.
So to stop that possibility, Anwar has to take on Dr Wan Azizah. The latter can withdraw and give her husband a walkover victory. But that would be undemocratic and hollow.
