Ku Li Gau Li?
KTemoc Konsiders
Well, we all know who Ku Li is, don’t we?
What’s this ‘Gau Li’ then?
‘Gau Li’ is a Penang Hokkien word which means in Bahasa ‘pandai bermain’, wakakaka, or in English, ‘play skillfully’.
The question mark at the end of this post’s title implies I’m not sure how true is the story we are about to discuss!?
Story was by Mustapha Ali, PAS election director.
According to him, Ku Li had agreed prior to the 2013 general elections to join Pakatan to become its PM if … no, not ‘if’ but …when the coalition becomes the new government of Malaysia. PAS’ study showed that with Ku Li as the Pakatan PM-designate, more Malays would have voted for the coalition.
Mustapha argued that the Chinese and Indians votes were more or less secured for Pakatan and what the coalition needed were more Malay votes, and Ku Li’s designation as Pakatan’s preferred PM would have done that, to wit, won more Malay votes.
There is logic in Mustapha’s point though we won’t really know if Ku Li had agreed to joining Pakatan even as its PM-designate, as we have only Mustapha’s word. Besides, we have been aware of how ultra kiasu cautious our 78-year old prince has been since Mahathir smashed his Semangat 46 to smithereens.
Anyway, Mustapha now blames Anwar Ibrahim and PKR for not agreeing to Ku Li becoming the Pakatan PM for 3 years (half the term of an elected government) before handing over the reins to Anwar.
Though we only have Mustapha’s word for it, there seems to be reasonable plausibility in this part of the story because I believe it would have been hard for Anwar to swallow that ‘demotion’ especially when he (Anwar) had believed victory was just around the corner, after a long ardous 14-year wait.
Mind, Anwar (and PKR) might have the suspicion it was a PAS plot to deny Anwar the PM seat in order to allow Pak Haji Hadi as the most senior Pakatan leader to assume that No 1 leadership position.
And there is also plausibility in this because we are aware of Pak Haji’s personal ambition and his perception that PAS as the biggest PR component party should have been offered the PM post. Needless to say, he would/must have been much chagrined to play bridesmaid to Anwar, already much racked by salacious scandals.
Then there was that seething simmering bad blood between Pak Haji and Mr Manmanlai stemming from their ‘old days’ when the late Fadzil Noor, then rising up in PAS until he became party president in 1989, saw and groomed Anwar Ibrahim (then in ABIM) to become his (future) political heir in PAS, yes, Anwar as a then-future PAS party president. Perhaps Pak Haji Hadi even then had mucho distrust of Anwar, perhaps he saw Anwar as a competitor.
But alas, Anwar broke his mentor’s heart when he surprised everyone by electing to join UMNO instead, adopting Mahathir as his new political mentor and father figure, and enjoying his new found political niche for 16 jolly good years in various ministerial positions, with the global political landscape as his operating arena, all made possible by his UMNO credentials. If he had remained by Fadzil Noor’s side he would have become PAS party president and at most, MB of Kelantan. That won’t do for Anwar as he was politically-mentally no bloody ikan bilis but an ocean roaming big fish.
