What Reformasi 2.0? It seems like old wine in new bottle

By admin-s On Apr 21, 2014

And as long as Anwar’s de facto presence and by extension his family’s continue to dominate PKR and by proxy Pakatan Rakyat, this will continue to be true.

Hazlan Zakaria, The Ant Daily

Despite all the hype and glossing by PKR master strategist Rafizi Ramli, his much vaunted “Reformasi 2.0” seems all but a re-invention of the same thing – old wine in new bottle.

Inspite of his attempt to shift the focus of federal opposition support from Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to fixing corrupt Malaysian institutions, it does not fall from the tree of the de facto leader, as it focuses still on using him as the poster child.

And as long as Anwar’s de facto presence and by extension his family’s continue to dominate PKR and by proxy Pakatan Rakyat, this will continue to be true.

The PKR strategist recently launched his book titled “Reformasi 2.0 Fakta Kes Anwar Ibrahim Ke Mana Pergi Integriti Mahkamah”, hoping to touch base with youths unfamiliar with the original reformasi.

Rafizi’s redressing of the movement is an attempt to mitigate the lethargy of many Malaysians with Anwar’s seeming obsession with Putrajaya.

This is especially so with the ponderous Kajang Move of recent fame which had tired out the nation with the same old politicking that has always been the norm.

It is a clever attempt at reverse psychology, if obliquely, as he was quoted by a news portal as saying that Reformasi 2.0 is about “throwing out the ruling BN to fix Malaysia’s institutions.”

But the gist of it is actually throwing out BN to let Anwar fix the institutions. Will he? Now that is another question.

Since it is common knowledge that the public may be too tired with the justice for Anwar saga, the focus now is to target the institutions and rebrand the fight while still using him as figurehead.

As Rafizi himself explained in the same article, the book was not to recreate the 1999 Reformasi, as while his generation understood what happened in 1998, the younger generation did not.

“All they know is Anwar is PKR and opposition leader who is hell-bent on taking over Putrajaya,” he reportedly said.