Pakatan moves into Plan B

Mahathir shocked Pakatan at the 14th October 2017 rally by insulting the Bugis, thus opening yet one more battlefront after so many, something they can ill afford. The following day Kit Siang called PAN for an emergency meeting and told them Mahathir can no longer lead Pakatan and they have to dump him and go back to Anwar as Plan B. Not going to Plan B is not an option but they need an excuse to get rid of Mahathir and replace him with Anwar, which Mat Sabu will provide on 22nd October.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“This is what we are in politics for – to ensure a better nation for our children and children’s children, not become a land of kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, but a successful, progressive and prosperous Malaysia for which all her citizens, regardless of race, religion, region or politics can feel proud.”

That was Lim Kit Siang’s latest rhetoric. Malaysia is a land of kleptocracy, a failed state, a rogue state, an unsuccessful country, an unprogressive country, an unprosperous country, and a country that all her citizens are not proud of.

If you believe that then you also believe pigs can fly.

Anyway, the “Love Malaysia, Anti Kleptocracy” rally held at Padang Timur in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, 14th October 2017 — the rally that Malaysians were supposed to come out in their hundreds of thousands to support the “Make Malaysia Great Again” event — failed to attract the crowd they had expected. Either Malaysians do not believe Kit Siang’s worn-out rhetoric or Malaysians love Iiving in a ‘dead country’ — if Malaysia is really as dead as Kit Siang is trying to convince us.

But Malaysians are not convinced that Malaysia is dead or about to die and needs ‘saving’. That was why the 100,000 Malaysians they expected at the rally did not turn up. This forced Mat Sabu to announce that the 100,000 crowd they had earlier announced was just propaganda and that they really expected only 30,000. So 25,000 is not too far from their ‘real target’ of 30,000.

The disaster of the “Make Malaysia Great Again” rally compounded by Mahathir’s insult towards Malays in general and Bugis in particular

If that is true then that is not too bad. They expected 30,000 and got 25,000. But the truth is they expected 100,000 and got just 4,000, not 25,000. Even Malaysiakini — that usually doubles the figures of the crowds at opposition rallies — announced that the crowd was 8,000. And any opposition supporter would tell you Malaysiakini never lies, they just stretch the truth to double what it really is.

A normal PAS rally easily attracts crowds of 30,000-50,000. If it was with the presence of national leaders, such as those rallies held in Kelantan, then a 100,000-200,000 crowd is the norm. A crowd of 4,000 cannot even match the numbers that go to pray in PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang’s mosque in Rhusila.

Even a normal Friday prayer in Rhusila can attract more than 4,000 people

So, as much as Mat Sabu tried to give the impression that the “Love Malaysia, Anti Kleptocracy” rally held at Padang Timur in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, 14th October 2017, was a huge success, it was not. The Mat Sabu name can no longer bring in crowds of 30,000 like it used to. More importantly, the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad name could not help reach the figure of 100,000 that they had hoped would happen.

Mahathir no longer has that magic touch. The Mahathir name is no longer the crowd-puller. People are not convinced with Kit Siang’s rhetoric that Mahathir is going to help “Make Malaysia Great Again”. So the crowd did not turn out. Worse still, around 40% of those Chinese in Penang who used to support DAP and vote for DAP in 2008 and 2013 are not sure they are going to do the same in the next general election because of DAP’s association with Mahathir.

Mahathir’s party was supposed to steal not less than one million Umno members. That has not happened. Mat Sabu’s party was supposed to steal 200,000 PAS members. That, too, has not happened. Instead DAP has lost 40% of its Chinese voter-base.

What happened? Mahathir is what happened.

You do not go and tell Malaysians, who are far wiser than you give them credit for, that since the fox has been stealing your chickens for 22 years you can protect your chickens and prevent further chickens from being stolen by appointing the fox as the jaga. Mahathir cannot pull off the magic that Kit Siang and DAP thought he could. He has been a dismal failure and upsetting the Malays by ridiculing the Bugis was the last straw that proved Kit Siang has to find a way out to sideline Mahathir and bring back Anwar Ibrahim as Pakatan’s Prime Minister-in-waiting.

Mahathir is the problem. And you cannot offer the problem as the solution. Problems just cannot become solutions. Even if it is true that “Malaysia is a land of kleptocracy, a failed state, a rogue state, an unsuccessful country, an unprogressive country, an unprosperous country, and a country that all her citizens are not proud of” — and we are not agreeing that it is — it is only because of Mahathir and because of what he did as Prime Minister for 22 years.

Mat Sabu has been tasked with the job of sidelining Mahathir in favour of Anwar

But then Kit Siang needed Mahathir as the Malay face of Pakatan. He also needed to camouflage his intentions of becoming Prime Minister by hiding behind Mahathir. But that is no longer possible. Mahathir is the poisoned chalice and drinking from that cup will ensure instant death.

So, what now? Now Pakatan needs to go to Plan B. And the mess that Mahathir made at the “Make Malaysia Great Again” rally by insulting the Bugis when he called them pirates, which upset even those Bugis in Indonesia, convinced Kit Siang that not only must they jettison Mahathir but it must be done as soon as possible before Mahathir brings Pakatan Harapan down even further than it already is.

Kit Siang then called for a Pakatan meeting minus PKR and PPBM. He could not invite PPBM or else he would upset Mahathir and that must be the last thing he does. He also could not invite PKR or else Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Azmin Ali would attend and Azmin would immediately inform Mahathir about it.

So it was not really a Pakatan meeting in the real sense. This was just like the Pakatan meeting that was held to plan the ‘Kajang Move’ but which did not include PAS. And the so-called Pakatan meeting that Kit Siang called was about how to subtely drop Mahathir and go back to Anwar Ibrahim as the candidate for Prime Minister in the event Pakatan wins the next general election.

On 22nd October 2017 Mat Sabu asked one of his boys to pass a motion naming Anwar as Pakatan’s candidate for Prime Minister if they win GE14. It was adopted sebulat suara (unanimously) with no debate, dissent or opposition, which was quite unusual. But then this was staged. It was all a wayang not only to test the waters but to make it appear like the usul came from the members, not from the leaders, and that the party was unanimous about it.

This would probably have been able to con those who do not know that Mat Sabu told his party that Anwar is guilty of all those crimes he has been accused of but they still need to use Anwar to get into power. If they stick to Mahathir, Pakatan is dead. Even the Chinese do not want Mahathir. Anwar is the only one who can help get back the 40% Chinese voters who are going to abandon Pakatan in the next general election, and even more important than that is to keep the Malay support after what Mahathir said about the Bugis.

Kit Siang now cares only for thing, to get the necessary Malay votes so that he can become Prime Minister if Pakatan wins the general election on the ground that DAP has the most number of seats in the coalition.

Kit Siang knows he needs the Malay votes if he wants to become Prime Minister. While the Chinese votes can get him the state government of Penang, only the Malay votes can install him on the throne in Putrajaya. So this is more about the Malay votes than the Chinese votes and Mahathir cannot deliver this to him.

Mahathir is dragging down DAP and Pakatan and Kit Siang is worried like hell because both the Malays and Chinese are  turning away from Pakatan

So Mahathir is not helping in that area. Anwar, however, has proven to be more acceptable to the Chinese in 2008 and 2013. So if DAP wants to get back the Chinese votes they need to dump Mahathir and go back to Anwar. This is the only way DAP can ensure they will get 90% of the Chinese votes instead of just 50%.

If DAP gets just 50% of the Chinese votes they will be down to about 25 or so Parliament seats. According to DAP’s intelligence unit for the first time since 2008 Penang is actually a 50:50 situation. That has alarmed DAP’s top leaders. The revelation behind the abuse of power and corruption that resulted in the recant landslide at Tanjung Bungah has upset many DAP leaders and there is talk some DAP leaders might even resign in protest.

Things are getting very critical. And Mahathir’s leadership of Pakatan has not helped at all. In fact, it has made matters worse. So Plan B is Mahathir out, Anwar in. And Mat Sabu’s party has set the stage for the launching of Plan B. Mahathir cannot bring in the Malay votes after all. Worse still, Mahathir is driving the Chinese voters away. And for the first time in almost 10 years DAP is faced with the possibility of losing Penang.

Mahathir must be sacrificed for the continued Chinese plus Malay support. And Mat Sabu was appointed the high priest of the altar to perform this sacrifice. Mahathir’s blood must flow to appease the restless Chinese and the indignant Malays. If not Mahathir is going to drag Pakatan down with him. And with the RCI and many other issues acting as the albatross around Mahathir’s neck, he is going to sink and will suck everyone else down with him.

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PAN passes motion to name Anwar as PM candidate if Pakatan Harapan wins GE14

(NST, 22 Oct 2017) – Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) delegates today passed a motion to name Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan should the pact win the 14th General Election (GE14). The motion, proposed by PAN Pulai division was supported by the 898 delegates without debating.

The division’s motion that an interim prime minister should be appointed before Anwar is given a pardon for his five-year jail term was also approved without debate. Pulai division said the motion was meant to make sure that PAN was on the same page with other Pakatan Harapan components on the pact’s candidate for the prime minister’s post.