Kit Siang’s con is to offer the post of interim PM to two people

By MT Webmaster Last updated Jul 28, 2017

The entire strategy for the success of Pakatan Harapan depends on Kit Siang being able to convince Mahathir and Anwar to agree to a pact. And for this pact to happen Kit Siang must be able to convince both Mahathir and Anwar that they can trust each other. Then the Malay voters must be made to believe that Mahathir and Anwar have buried the hatchet and no longer hold any grudges or have any animosity against each other.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Nurul Izzah Anwar’s recent trip to London as Lim Kit Siang’s emissary or duta was to meet Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and offer him the post of interim Prime Minister on condition that the old man agrees that his first task as interim PM would be to apply for a pardon for Anwar. That was actually a ruse. They know if Mahathir becomes the interim PM he would never let go and he would turn the post of interim PM into the post of permanent PM. So there is no way Mahathir can be allowed to become interim PM.

Furthermore, Kit Siang and Anwar Ibrahim have already agreed that Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will be the interim PM while waiting for Anwar to be released from jail. However, they need Mahathir to help oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Umno and Barisan Nasional. So Mahathir must be made to believe that he and not Wan Azizah will be the interim PM. So this is merely a game of deception that they are playing to make Mahathir go along with the plan. No one will trust Mahathir with the post of interim PM but he must be made to believe they do trust him by inserting the condition that he will be responsible for making sure that Anwar receives a pardon.

Kit Siang’s ‘Grand Design’ is simple. First assume that Mahathir and Anwar can be made to believe they can trust each other. Second, assume that the Malay voters can be made to believe that Mahathir and Anwar have kissed and made up.

Kit Siang’s strategy is to make Mahathir believe he is going to be the interim PM if Pakatan Harapan wins the next general election

Kit Siang realises that this is the last chance for him, his son Guan Eng, and DAP. If they miss this general election then there is no longer any future for him, his son, and his party. He cannot hope if they do not make it this general election then they can try again in the next general election. It is either this general election or nothing at all. And this is why Kit Siang is getting very desperate.

However, Kit Siang knows his ‘Grand Design’ is not perfect because it hinges on him being able to convince Mahathir and Anwar to trust each other. So there are many flaws in his plan because that is the most difficult thing on earth to do. And chances are Pakatan Harapan will not last and will disintegrate even before the next general election.

And that is why Kit Siang has a done a U-turn on the RoS matter. If he thought Pakatan Harapan was guaranteed then he would tell the RoS to go to hell. But now he cannot do that in case Pakatan Harapan fails (like Barisan Alternatif and Pakatan Rakyat before this: both which failed because of DAP) and they need to fall back on DAP. So now DAP is softening their stand and is listening to RoS.

DAP has no choice but to comply with what the RoS wants because the future for Pakatan Harapan is so uncertain and it may collapse before the next general election

The window is rapidly closing and by 2020 it will have closed totally. And, as they say, a dying man clutches at straw. And this is why Kit Siang is clutching at straw and is hoping that the impossible can become possible. And getting Mahathir and Anwar onto the same page and to trust each other unreservedly is taking straw-clutching to the peak. Getting Mahathir and Anwar to trust each other unreservedly is like trying to bring the Arctic and the Antarctic to meet at the Equator.

Kit Siang must be raving mad or maybe he thinks the Malays are. Definitely Kit Siang does not understand Malay culture and Malay politics. Ma’af to the Malays is a two-way street. You must both give and ask ma’af. And if there is no two-way ma’af then the finality is a keris in the belly. No self-respecting anak jantan, which is very important to the Malays, would kowtow to a mortal enemy. If you do then you would be regarded as an eunuch or what Malays would call takde telur.

For the ma’af to be valid Mahathir and Anwar must salam in public and utter the words ‘saya minta ma’af….etc., etc., etc.’….and both must say this. And they must look each other in the eyes as they do this. They cannot look away or look elsewhere. If not then this means we will settle this another day in a duel to the death.

Mahathir and Anwar have never forgiven each other and will never trust each other till the day they die

Kit Siang, being Chinese, does not know this. So he thinks he can just get Mahathir and Anwar to be on the same page and that is good enough. No, that is not good enough. It has to be more than that or else there is no way in hell Mahathir and Anwar can ever trust each other and accept each other as comrades again.

Kit Siang’s entire strategy depends on him being able to convince Mahathir that he can trust Anwar and convince Anwar he can trust Mahathir. But why should Mahathir and Anwar trust each other? What have Mahathir or Anwar done that indicates they can trust each other? In fact, the evidence points to the opposite. So what gives Kit Siang the impression that he can successfully convince Mahathir and Anwar that they can trust each other?

Kit Siang sent Nurul Izzah to London to meet Mahathir to tell the old man DAP agrees that he will become the interim PM if Pakatan Harapan wins the general election. Kit Siang then told Anwar in the event Pakatan Harapan wins the next general election Wan Azizah will become the interim PM. As far as Kit Siang is concerned the PM will come from the party with the largest number of parliament seats and with 55 or so parliament seats that means DAP will decide who becomes PM. And this also means Kit Siang, and not Mahathir or Anwar, will become PM.

Nurul Izzah and Wan Azizah know that Mahathir will never be the interim PM because if he is given that post he will never let go to allow Anwar to take over

Kit Siang knows that no deal is possible unless he promises Mahathir that he shall become the interim PM and also promises Anwar that Wan Azizah shall become the interim PM. And Kit Siang also knows that unless Mahathir and Anwar can agree to a deal Pakatan Harapan is not going to be viable. It will never happen without Mahathir and Anwar coming together.

The fact that there are three ‘top dogs’ — Ketua Umum, Chairman, and President — shows that Pakatan Harapan is a recipe for disaster. You cannot have three captains piloting one ship but Pakatan Harapan does. But Kit Siang needs to give all three the impression that they are in charge. Mahathir has to feel he is the boss and Anwar and Wan Azizah must also feel the same.

Mahathir can never accept Anwar as the boss and neither can Anwar accept Mahathir as the boss. So both must be told they are the boss and the other is the second boss. This is a con game that Kit Siang is playing and he thinks that he can con both Mahathir and Anwar and none will be the wiser. And he also thinks while both Mahathir and Anwar think they are the boss while the other is number two, he will emerge as the boss instead and becomes the Prime Minister if Pakatan Harapan wins the general election.

If Mahathir becomes interim PM he will destroy Anwar, although he said the first thing he will do on becoming PM would be to seek a royal pardon for Anwar. Mahathir will promise anything to get to become the interim PM — even saying he no longer considers Anwar immoral and not fit to become Prime Minister — because once he becomes PM he has the power to do whatever he wants, even converting from interim Prime Minister to permanent Prime Minister.

All three — Mahathir, Anwar and Kit Siang — feel they have the trump card and can outplay the other two. But then all three need to do this deal because without this deal Pakatan Harapan has absolutely no hope of marching into Putrajaya. Students of politics are going to study this Pakatan Harapan ‘Grand Design’ for years to come and will conclude that this is almost like a suicide pact. All three tie themselves together to jump off the cliff in the hope that he will land on top of the other two and survive while the other two will get crushed to death.

Anwar will never forget what Mahathir did to him and how much he lost and that Mahathir cannot be trusted as the interim PM

After what Mahathir did to Anwar there is no way Anwar is going to accept the old man. There is only one thing Anwar can accept, and that is Mahathir’s total destruction. Anwar knows if he allows Mahathir to become Prime Minister he is never going to see daylight again. Mahathir will make sure Anwar stays permanently in the dark. If Anwar allows Mahathir to become Prime Minister he might as well put a gun to his own head and pull the trigger. That would be faster and more merciful.

Mahathir also knows if Anwar becomes Prime Minister it will be payback time. Not only will Anwar go after Mahathir but he will go for all his children and grandchildren as well. Anwar has a bullet in his pocket with Mahathir’s name inscribed on it. Mahathir said the first thing he will do when he becomes interim Prime Minister would be to apply for Anwar’s pardon. Anwar knows this is never going to happen. Instead, Mahathir will look for ways to destroy Anwar permanently.

Mahathir and Anwar are both pointing a gun at each other’s head and are pretending they love each other. And Kit Siang is tying to con both Mahathir and Anwar that they can trust each other. Is Kit Siang stupid or does he think Mahathir and Anwar and the rest of the Malays are?

Anwar has lost so much. And it is all because of Mahathir. Anwar used to be the Deputy Prime Minister about to become the Prime Minister and very powerful with a private jet and bodyguards and so on. In one swoop in September 1998, Anwar lost everything because of Mahathir. That is too much to forgive and forget. But Anwar being Anwar, he is prepared to play along as long as he actually gets to become Prime Minister and can get his revenge on Mahathir.

If there is one person in the world Anwar hates and can never forgive and forget that would be Mahathir. And even if Mahathir does help him become Prime Minister all will never be forgotten and forgiven. As far as Anwar is concerned becoming Prime Minister is his birth right and there will be no gratitude towards Mahathir. In fact, Anwar will punish Mahathir even more for making him wait so long and for making it so difficult for him to become Prime Minister like in the story about the genie in the bottle.

Anwar used to be a big man and the darling of the US until Mahathir reduced him to nothing

Mahathir also knows this and is also prepared to play along and pretend that the first thing he will do on becoming interim PM would be to get Anwar freed from jail and then let hm take over as the eighth Prime Minister.

What Kit Siang is hoping to see is impossible to happen. So Kit Siang must be very stupid or very desperate to think that a Mahathir-Anwar alliance is possible. Kit Siang knows that a Mahathir-Anwar alliance is crucial if Pakatan Harapan wants to succeed. And that means Pakatan Harapan is not going to make it because this entire deal is going to fall apart even before the general election. And the longer Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak delays the next general election the more chance that Pakatan Harapan will disintegrate before the general election.

What Kit Siang is hoping for is that the Malays will believe that Pakatan Harapan is on solid ground because Mahathir and Anwar are united. Most Malays, however, believe tiada ma’af bagi mu. The deadline for Mahathir and Anwar to kiss and make up and forgive and forget are long gone. It has gone beyond the point of no return. Only one can live while the other must die. And what Kit Siang is trying to do is downright stupid and unworkable. Malays are not going to buy this unless that Malay is as stupid as Kit Siang.