If Anwar goes back to jail, Azmin and co. can take over, says Economist
(The Malaysian Insider) – If Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim goes back to jail after the Sodomy II appeal next week, the sentence will not only turn the 67-year-old into a martyr but also give other younger PKR leaders a chance to shine, The Economist said today.
In an editorial today, the newspaper said the ruling Barisan Nasional had thwarted Anwar’s political ambitions for 16 years – since his fallout with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 – and this week’s trial at the Federal Court “looks like the end of the road” for Anwar.
But the silver lining, said the paper, was the chance for younger leaders in PKR, such as Azmin Ali, Rafizi Ramli and Nurul Izzah Anwar, to take over the leadership reins and prove their mettle.
Of the trio, Selangor Menteri Besar and PKR deputy president Azmin is seen as the most promising.
“He cut his teeth as Anwar’s private secretary during his years in government and has proven a loyal deputy. But the capable 50-year-old can readily move out from his mentor’s shadow,” the paper said.
Azmin not only had greater experience than Nurul Izzah (Anwar’s daughter and PKR vice-president) and Rafizi (PKR strategy director), he was also the winner of the “Kajang move” debacle and ended with the plum post of menteri besar. (Rafizi was the architect of the “Kajang move”.)
If Azmin can prove to the electorate that he can govern Selangor competently, then he might achieve what his mentor could not: taking over the country as prime minister.
The newspaper said even if Anwar’s appeal was successful, he was “no longer quite as crucial to the opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) as he once was”. Anwar, it noted, had twice failed to lead PR to outright victory in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.
But Anwar remains a charismatic figure and can still raise a crowd as he did on Monday at Universiti Malaya. Anwar was invited to the “40 years: from UM to prison” event which the university administration had declared illegal.
