Anwar has lost control
Umar Mukhtar
Many have credited Anwar Ibrahim with the creation of Pakatan Rakyat. Maybe, but does he really deserve it? The truth is, a united opposition is an idea whose time has come. And Anwar was just an incidental player. MCA, MIC and Gerakan would still be OKUs without Anwar around. The Chinese don’t need Anwar to tell them they have been had by their own.
There was the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah and later the Barisan Alternatif. But they failed miserably. In his jail cell Anwar studied the reasons why they had failed. They were too honest. They wanted to resolve issues that were too divisive and a pain to deal with, in order that they can move forward organically.
The snake-oil salesman found that the answer was to never to deal with them. Hence, his Pakatan Rakyat still has issues that can sink a ship. The trick is never to get them to even talk about it. So, no shadow cabinet, no common economic approach to deal with income disparity between the races, no united educational philosophy, no resolution to the Hudud nuisance. These issues will split them apart like what happened to APU and BA. Don’t get them together, keep them apart!
You see, political struggle to Anwar is not about achieving genuine harmony and cooperation among the Rakyat. It’s about making him the Prime Minister even if he has to buy MPs. Once he is there, he believes some magic wand will help him make all the problems disappear like a benevolent dictator would. He must have learned that from his old boss.
So PR plodded on with their individual agendas, like fellow-travellers towards their own Utopias. But in his favorite words – you cannot fool all the people all of the time. A slight indulgence and the problems have come back to haunt him. And he has little credibility to postpone matters. He is losing control.
The recalcitrant Khalid Ibrahim and the resultant Kajang Move have made each coalition partner look at what their struggle is really about. And they found out they still differ by a mile. And now they are forced to show it. Time’s up, proscratinators!
Suddenly coalition protocols are broken. Pas nominated their own ADUNs in spite of the so-called pre-agreed single nominee. Goaded by Anwar’s impatience before his possible incarceration, the floodgates are opening. Anything can happen at Pas’ Muktamar on the 18th of September. They may still be part of a loose coalition, but it will be much looser still.
All coalition partners will fight tooth and nail for their pet peeves. Come election time they hope to agree to fight as a joint front. This time it won’t be easy, looking at Kota Damasara and the like in 2013. Anwar will stretch his snake-oil salesmanship to the limit. He is losing control. The partners probably will think they are not comforted by his superficial hugs anymore.
So if they are on their own, it’s back to the old days. Only this time the gaps are wider. After tasting solidarity, the Chinese will vote overwhelmingly for DAP, and the Malays will strengthen PAS. It won’t be for fear of Barisan Nasional but to protect themselves against each other now that they experienced intimately the others’ desires.
What about PKR? you will ask. The answer is name one single constituency that PKR can win in an open fight. Permatang Pauh you’d say? Nah, PAS will walk over Anwar Ibrahim. DAP has Bukit Bintang and many others, while PAS has Pengkalan Chepa and the like. PKR is out in the cold, perhaps trying to win Indian votes with his Tamil movies antics.
Anwar is losing control because he has made one too many unfulfilled promises and because after all these years the partners still cannot figure him out. They had hoped he will referee tough fights but he was just an usher showing them the exit.
These may be wishful thinking, but let me be one of the earliest to look forward to see his back (pun intended). He is ripe to be substituted and we will let him yell from the bench.
Both his appeal and double applications for asylum are pending. We will sing sayonara to YAB not-to-be. Then we will have peace.
