Mahathir wants to buy Pakatan Harapan for RM500 million
Mahathir wants Pakatan Harapan to accept Pribumi as a member of the opposition coalition and to lead the coalition plus endorse Muhyiddin as Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Prime Minister and Mukhriz as the candidate for Deputy Prime Minister. And for that Mahathir has promised to donate RM500 million to Pakatan Harapan to help finance the next general election.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
(The Sun Daily) – Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will discuss with its de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the party’s collaboration with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).
PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said the party needs to work with PPBM and thus needs to get Anwar’s endorsement.
“We need to work together and this needs Anwar’s approval,” Azmin, who is also the Selangor Mentri Besar said after he attended the Aidiladha prayers at Tengku Ampuan Jemaah Mosque Bukit Jelutong here today.
On Sunday, PPBM pro-tem vice president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said he hoped the meeting between his father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar last week can lead to official collaboration between both parties.
The former Kedah Mentri Besar said it is important for PKR to get Anwar’s endorsement to prove the party’s commitment in the collaboration.
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(Malay Mail Online) – Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) will work together with the federal opposition to help free Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said they must gain federal power before they can do so.
Muhyiddin said he has received requests from the public to help secure the release of the imprisoned PKR de facto leader, and now claimed to feel “deeply saddened” by Anwar’s time in prison.
Anwar was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for sodomy while Muhyiddin was still deputy prime minister.
“We need a radical reformation of the electoral system in order to set all Malaysians free.
“Only if there is a change of leadership, will we be able to determine Anwar’s fate,” he was quoted saying yesterday by local daily New Straits Times.
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Those are the sound bites coming out from Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali, ex-Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir, and ex-Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Suddenly, after being in the background over the last 19 months, Anwar Ibrahim is, again, a very important component in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s game of thrones.
Mahathir’s visit to court on 5th September 2016 to mengadap or pay homage to Anwar has triggered a whole new I LOVE ANWAR euphoria. Anwar is now a very crucial person in ensuring the success of Mahathir’s plans. Anwar’s agreement must be obtained. Anwar’s blessings must be sought. Anwar, who is a victim of injustice and fabricated charges, must be freed from jail as soon as the Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan forms the new federal government.
Muhyiddin has admitted that Anwar should not be in jail and that he is jail because the Attorney General and the Judiciary are corrupt. This can only mean the then Attorney General and the judges who sent Anwar to jail are crooks. And once the Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan takes over Putrajaya and forms the new federal government, all this will be corrected.
Well, Muhyiddin does not need to worry about Abdul Gani Patail, the crooked Attorney General who sent Anwar to jail. He has already been sacked. As for the crooked judges who sent Anwar to jail, if they are still in office by the time the Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan takes over Putrajaya and forms the new federal government, Muhyiddin can sack them as well.
The federal court, in fact, already cleared Anwar of Sodomy 1 on 2nd September 2004 when they said the Prosecution, led by Gani Patail, failed to prove Anwar’s guilt. Yet the judges still sent Anwar to jail and this is in spite of Mahathir saying that he personally met all the victims of Anwar’s sodomy act and that he does not need a court to convince him of Anwar’s guilt (see the video below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUKzY37xou8
Is it not ironical that Muhyiddin now says Mahathir and Gani were wrong for jailing Anwar? It would have been nice if he had said this when he was still in government and was still the Deputy Prime Minister and not after he has been sacked. Then maybe Malaysians would take him seriously.
Muhyiddin is confirming what the opposition has been alleging for a long time: that Malaysia’s legal system is corrupt and that the Attorney General and the judges are crooks. When Anwar was sent to jail for Sodomy 2, Muhyiddin was the Deputy Prime Minister. But Muhyiddin did not at that time say what he is saying today. A honourable and God-fearing man would speak up without fear or favour.
What would be interesting to see is how Mahathir is going to respond to Muhyiddin’s confession that Anwar should not be in jail and that he is a victim of a sham trial. Will Mahathir now say that he did not really want Anwar in jail and that the party twisted his arm and forced him to jail Anwar? Maybe Mahathir needs to record a new video to replace the one above.
After Azmin and Mukhriz said they need to consult Anwar about Pribumi’s membership into Pakatan Harapan and get his consent before that can happen, Muhyiddin comes out with that ‘justice for Anwar’ declaration. Why is Anwar suddenly so crucial in this whole thing to the extent that Mahathir now needs to kowtow to him?
Well, the reason is because Mahathir’s visit to court on 5th September did not really achieve what Mahathir had hoped. Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is PKR’s president and Nurul Izzah Anwar is a Vice President of the party. And mother and daughter walked out on 5th September and refused to sit together with Mahathir, Azmin and Khairuddin Abu Hassan in the front row. And for sure they will not want to sit in the back row.
So this is not entirely up to Anwar even if he does agree to admitting Pribumi into Pakatan Harapan and allow it to lead the opposition coalition. And Anwar’s other daughter, Nurul Nuha, is even more adamant that Mahathir ‘must own up to the “trumped-up” sodomy and corruption charges against Anwar back in 1998 before even thinking about forming any alliance’. (READ HERE).
Mahathir not only wants Pakatan Harapan to accept Pribumi as a member of the opposition coalition and allow it to lead the coalition, he also wants the Pribumi-led coalition to endorse Muhyiddin as Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Prime Minister and Mukhriz as the candidate for Deputy Prime Minister. And if they can agree to this then Mahathir will donate RM500 million to Pakatan Harapan to help finance the next general election.
Mahathir is not sure how much resistance Anwar’s family is going to give but already one daughter has come out to express her ‘terms and conditions’ before they can even start talking. And they know Azmin is Mahathir’s collaborator and the family hates Azmin to pieces. To try to soften the family up a bit, Mahathir has asked Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali to talk to Wan Azizah and for Mukhriz to work on Nurul Izzah. So now the whole family needs to get involved in the attempt to obtain Anwar’s agreement to allow Pribumi to ‘take over’ Pakatan Harapan or buy it for RM500 million.
Many may have noticed that Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and DAP have maintained an elegant silence regarding this whole matter. They did not even appear in court on 5th September, which is quite unlike them who would grab at any publicity they can get. This is because the DAP leaders no longer feel that Mahathir or his Pribumi can be an asset to the opposition. In fact, it may even be the reverse, a liability to the opposition.
Mahathir says Pakatan Harapan will need to endorse Muhyiddin for Prime Minister and Mukhriz for Deputy Prime Minister to be able to take the Malay votes away from Umno. But that did not happen in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections. In fact, even some Chinese votes ‘ran away’. The Chinese are actually quite unhappy that DAP would forsake its principles by working with Mahathir. The Chinese feel DAP is demonstrating opportunistic politics and is no longer true to its cause.
Anwar and his family also know that this is not about the general election or about helping the Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan march into Putrajaya. That is a pie in the sky and the only thing they should be discussing is whether the opposition can even maintain its seats in the next general election or whether they are going to see a drop in seats. Talking about forming the next government is fool’s gold and is never going to happen.
PAN has not proven the success it was thought it would be. As of today, PAN has only 21,083 members (see below) as opposed to the more than one million PAS members. Umno has 3.5 million members and the Pribumi membership is expected to be even worse than PAN. Pribumi would be lucky if they can get 10,000 members unless they want to do what they did with the Citizens’ Declaration: pad it with one million fake names.
Why would Mahathir want to spend RM500 million to buy its way into Pakatan Harapan and to get them to endorse Muhyiddin as the Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan Prime Minister and Mukhriz its Deputy Prime Minister when it is not going to win the next general election? The answer to that is obvious. This is the only way Mahathir can demonstrate that not only is he still in the game but that he is actually calling the shots.
Mahathir needs to demonstrate strength and power so that he can still control his proxies, nominees and trustees. Then he will squeeze them for at least RM20 billion if he cannot get back the entire RM100 billion. He will give Pakatan Harapan RM500 million and still have a lot balance.
Anwar wants to see the money upfront. Anwar does not want promises. He wants the money to be paid first before Pribumi is allowed to join Pakatan Harapan and take over the leadership of Pakatan Harapan plus before they endorse Muhyiddin and Mukhriz as the Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan choice of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively.
Mahathir’s concern is after handing over the money what is there to stop Anwar from shafting him by saying that he and PKR are agreeable to the deal but Lim Kit Siang and/or DAP are against it and have threatened to leave Pakatan Harapan if Mahathir and his Pribumi are allowed to take over the opposition coalition? Mahathir is worried that once the money changes hands that would be the end of the matter. The money will disappear and Mahathir will be told to go take a hike. That would certainly be poetic justice as far as Anwar is concerned.
And why would Kit Siang or DAP agree to turn the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan into a Pribumi-led Pakatan Harapan when Pribumi does not have any members and cannot take the Malay votes away from Umno? Even PAN has just 21,083 members as opposed to the more than one million PAS members.
When they supported Mahathir’s Save Malaysia campaign and the Citizens’ Declaration, they thought this would create a Tsunami of Malay voters swinging over to Pakatan Harapan. That did not happen in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections and is not going to happen in the next general election either.
Anwar and Kit Siang are quite convinced that this is all just about the RM100 billion that is stuck in the hands of Mahathir’s proxies, nominees and trustees. Mahathir is trying to create an illusion that he still has power and is in control of everything. But to win the next general election Pakatan Harapan needs plenty of money to turn a dream into reality. Then he will squeeze all these people for RM20 billion, or more if he can.
Whether Mahathir pays Pakatan Harapan the RM500 million does not really matter because once he gets the RM20 billion he need not worry any longer. Mahathir knows even if he gives Pakatan Harapan the RM500 million they are still not going to march into Putrajaya. They might not even be able to retain all the seats they won in 2013.
The main question here would be would Mahathir agree to pay the RM500 million upfront or will Pakatan Harapan first have to accept Pribumi as a member and new leader of Pakatan Harapan plus endorse Muhyiddin as Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Prime Minister and Mukhriz the candidate for Deputy Prime Minister?
A bit like a Mexican standoff is it not? Who will give in first, Anwar or Mahathir? I suspect Anwar is too smart to fall for Mahathir’s tricks so he will demand the money upfront and then he will tell Mahathir that Pakatan Harapan works on consensus and unless the decision is unanimous Pribumi cannot be allowed to take over Pakatan Harapan nor can Muhyiddin and Mukhriz be endorsed as Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively.
