With no suitable heir in sight, Mahathir keeps himself in office
The male sex video, up till this point, has produced no apparent winner, but rather two losers.
Tay Tian Yan, Sin Chew Daily
After a fierce round of fights, Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali, like two defeated roosters, quietly retreat to their respective cages.
Their crests that symbolize their pride and honor, have been pecked by the other, but in the public’s eyes, there is no more pride to talk about from now on.
The male sex video, up till this point, has produced no apparent winner, but rather two losers.
Anwar will not ascend to the PM post earlier because of this incident. On the contrary, he is now facing two big dangers.
Firstly, When IGP Abdul Hamid Bador said a certain leader of a political party had orchestrated and spent huge sums of money to create and circulate the video, it was obvious to everyone whom he was talking about although he did not mention which party or which leader.
The enforcement authorities have treated this whole thing as a political conspiracy, and have picked up a total of 11 individuals, including Anwar’s political secretary Farhash Wafa.
If the probe were to go on, will they eventually make that “leader of a political party” the target of their investigation?
When asked whether Anwar would be summoned one day, the police chief simply said, “You said it. Not me!”
Secondly, Azmin took out a list of 27 high-profile supporters from his party in an apparent show of force.
These people look to Azmin as their head, not Anwar, meaning a line has already been drawn and the split within PKR is now a fact.
The party led by Anwar Ibrahim is no more a complete entity but one that is fragmented.
He needs the support of more MPs to take him to the top, but if not even his own people will back him, his last mile in political career could be ended tragically.
Anwar is well aware of the unfavorable condition he is now in after Azmin’s counter assault and statements from the prime minister and IGP. He has no choice but to stoop down a little to call for party unity while proclaiming his acceptance of the conclusion that Azmin was not involved in the sex video scandal.
Anwar has made no gain in this whole thing, but that does not mean Azmin has.
The shift in the sex video probe direction has given Azmin a much needed relief, his ministerial position safe for the time being.
But, in the consensus court, Azmin still has not cleared his name yet.
Mahathir, the police and Azmin’s supporters have reiterated that it was a political ploy, but in reality the success of any political conspiracy lies very much with the partial exposure of its factuality.
Unless such basis of factuality could be overturned, it will continue to haunt you like a specter.
If Azmin indeed has been a candidate to take the place of Anwar in future, the public scrutiny he is facing today will become a huge obstacle to his ascension one day.
If Mahathir used to think Azmin was his preferred heir, he may have to think again now.
There is no way a fragmented and debilitated PKR can take over Mahathir’s place, be it Anwar or Azmin.
Before a new successor is found, Mahathir will have no choice but to keep himself continually in office.
And the pressure to urge Mahathir to hand over the power will dissipate in thin air in no time.
