The Anwar-Azmin breakup is more than just politics, it’s a love affair gone wrong

And that is why PKR is today split into the Anwar camp and the Azmin camp. It is not really a power-struggle, as many may think. It is not even about ideological differences. It is mainly because of matters of the heart. That is all.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Most Malaysians cannot comprehend how Anwar Ibrahim and Mohamed Azmin Ali can break up after a relationship of more than 30 years since the 1980s when Anwar was still just the Education Minister. After all, both share the same political ideology and values. Actually, their breakup has nothing to do with politics. It is personal and is how things normally end in a very complicated “love triangle”.

According to the talk in the ABIM circles back in the 1980s, it was “First Lady” Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali who asked Anwar to employ Azmin. The ABIM boys say Azmin was Siti Hasmah’s “anak angkat”, which could have been true, as it is normal for the Malay elite in those days to have anak angkat (my family had dozens from all races, not just Malays, who are my “adopted cousins”).

Almost immediately Azmin became Anwar’s blue-eyed boy and “gatekeeper”. Basically you needed to go through Azmin to get to Anwar. Those of us who already had a relationship with Anwar long before Azmin came onto the scene just bypassed him and walked straight into Anwar’s office. That, of course, did not make us very popular with the gatekeeper.

It was Dr Siti Hasmah who “gave” Azmin to Anwar

Anwar became the Finance Minister in 1991 and the Deputy Prime Minister in 1993. So now Anwar had two offices in two different locations, and hence had two gatekeepers as well — Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor being the second one. But who was gatekeeper number one and who was gatekeeper number two? That was when things began to get interesting.

Anwar, being Anwar, had this penchant for playing one against the other. It is a sort of British thing called “divide and rule”. Anwar would tell Azmin that he (Anwar) trusts him (Azmin) more and that Ezam is not too reliable. Then Anwar would tell Ezam that he (Anwar) trusts him (Ezam) more and that Azmin is not too reliable.

This way Anwar gave both the impression that they were number one and the other was number two. And this created competition, jealousy and mistrust between the two. But both were gatekeepers of their respective ministries and both collected “gate tax” from those who wanted to see Anwar to discuss business deals.

How much they collected as proxies for Anwar and how much “commission” they kept for themselves may never be known but everyone got their cut. No proper accounts were kept, so even Anwar does not know how much his two proxies kept for themselves. But according to Anwar’s inner circle, the amount comes to hundreds of millions. And this was 25 to 30 years ago, mind you. Imagine how much that is worth today.

Dr Wan Azizah and Nurul Izzah hated Azmin since way back because of his “special relationship” with Anwar

Then came the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and Anwar’s sacking from Umno and jailing in 1998. While Anwar was in jail from 1998 till 2004, Azmin and Ezam remained loyal to Anwar and continued to serve Anwar’s cause, which was to free him from jail and make him Malaysia’s Prime Minister.

In 2004, Anwar was released from jail and it became very clear that Azmin was Anwar’s favourite. Ezam was as good as sidelined and he eventually merajuk and went back to Umno in 2008. I suppose any girl would feel the same way if you had two girlfriends and you favoured one above the other. Hence Ezam left PKR and rejoined Umno in 2008 not because of ideological differences but because he felt hurt that Anwar loved Azmin more.

Most PKR leaders knew about this and there was whispering in the corridors about Anwar’s and Azmin’s “special relationship”. In fact, they were sniggering behind Anwar’s back and this upset Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Nurul Izzah. There was one incident when Azmin bought Anwar a four-wheel drive as a present and Wan Azizah and Nurul refused to step foot in it, as if the car was cursed or jinxed. This matter was quite an “open secret” amongst the top PKR leadership.

When Khalid Ibrahim was made the Selangor MB instead, Azmin’s relationship with Anwar began to go south

In 2008, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was made the Selangor Menteri Besar and this upset Azmin because he had assumed he would be the one. He could not understand why Anwar would choose Khalid instead of him. Anwar, however, did not want Azmin to become too powerful. Anwar knew Ezam was about to rejoin Umno (which he did two months later) and if Azmin became the Selangor Menteri Besar (and without Ezam to “check” him) he would become too strong.

So, special relationship or not, when it comes to politics, do not trust even your own “special” friends. With Khalid as the Selangor Menteri Besar, Azmin would still be kept in check.

In 2013, when Anwar made his move to oust Khalid (mainly because he wanted the job of Selangor Menteri Besar for himself) Azmin did not offer too much resistance. But when Anwar dropped out of the race and Wan Azizah was proposed instead, Azmin did not like it. Wan Azizah hated him and Azmin knew if she became the Selangor Menteri Besar she would finish him off once and for all.

Hence Azmin had to sabotage Wan Azizah’s candidacy and get that job of Selangor Menteri Besar for himself. That is another story altogether, though, but the long and short of it is Azmin managed to sabotage Wan Azizah and a year later, in September 2014, he became the Menteri Besar of Selangor.

In September 2014, Azmin sabotaged Dr Wan Azizah and grabbed the post of Selangor MB, and in February 2015, Azmin flew to London to join Mahathir’s anti-Najib campaign team

Now it was clear that Anwar did not really love Azmin as much as he and many top PKR leaders had thought. Azmin knew his future no longer lies with Anwar and he had to seriously consider going back to his benefactor, Dr Siti Hasmah. In February 2015, Azmin flew to London to meet Dr Mahathir to join the anti-Najib Razak campaign team.

Three years later, in 2018, Najib was ousted and Azmin was rewarded for his service and loyalty to Mahathir. As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned (a 17th century saying). Today, that should read “hell hath no fury like a lover scorned” because lovers are no longer gender-sensitive, if you know what I mean.

And that is why PKR is today split into the Anwar camp and the Azmin camp. It is not really a power-struggle, as many may think. It is not even about ideological differences. It is mainly because of matters of the heart. That is all.