Will Anwar drop Umno court cases to become PM?

Clement Stanley, FMT

“What I assured them is that there is no political vendetta, but you must accept the due process, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary”.

This is what Anwar Ibrahim was reported to have said when asked if any deals were made with MPs facing charges.

This statement came from the would-be 9th prime minister of Malaysia after he claimed he had the majority support from the MPs to form a new government.

Anwar says he has the numbers. Most likely it comes from some discontented Umno MPs, PKR, DAP and possibly Warisan. PAS is unlikely to support him, nor will Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Pejuang (although Maszlee Malik had also reportedly signed a statutory declaration in support of Anwar) or the GPS of Sarawak as widely stated. The equation is not the issue because time will tell.

DAP has been branded as a Chinese chauvinist party which wants to promote Malaysian Malaysia at the expense of the Malays and Muslims by Umno and PAS among others. The dissatisfied Umno MPs in support of Anwar would now have to join hands with DAP in ensuring that Anwar does indeed succeed in his quest to be our next PM. That’s the irony of it.

Presumably, the PKR MPs will stick with Anwar.

If this is the presumed “support” presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and eventually the whole country, the question begs, did the olive branch being offered to the would-be Umno dissident backers of Anwar meet with the approval of Lim Kit Siang, Mohamad Sabu and others?

Could it be that in the end, if MPs who had been charged in court walk free, Anwar as the 9th PM will then say it is up to the attorney-general and police and it has nothing to do with him?

There have been examples of how cases have been dropped for one reason or the other and on every occasion, the sitting PM will express disappointment and shrug his shoulders and say it is not within his powers to decide on such matters. He leaves it to the AG, police and the courts.

Are we about to witness the same scenario in return for the support being given to the aspiring 9th PM ? Who can tell? After all, this is nothing more than conjecture but it is the perception of what could happen that is of concern. It is said that the leaves on a tree will not flutter if there is no wind.

Where, then, does that leave the people who voted for what they felt would be in the best interest of the country just two years plus ago? Nowhere nearer than they were prior to the last election.

Because at the end of the day, we are nothing compared to a handful of scheming power-hungry personalities who will get something out of nothing.

The issue of the 9th PM is about to be decided. For those who see the imminent danger of what is to come, you still can do something about it. But only if you really want to.