Anwar Ibrahim, the father of lompat parti
Yes, Anwar invented Malaysia’s political katak culture. He turned crossovers into an art form. Anwar’s 48-year track record in politics has been one of crossing over from one side to the other. And if he had been successful in 2004, or in 2008, Anwar and not Najib would have been Malaysia’s sixth prime minister.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
The lompat parti culture was actually started by Anwar Ibrahim 48 years ago back in 1974. And the story goes like this.
In 1974, Anwar took over as the president of ABIM (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia). That same year he organised an anti-government demonstration in Baling, Kedah, a PAS stronghold. For that, Anwar was detained under the ISA (Internal Security Act).
All that happened in 1974.
When Anwar was released from detention, he joined PAS.
PAS had about one million members but only about 200,000 were registered members. As high as 80% of the PAS members were never officially registered mainly because they would rather be ‘silent’ members to avoid punishment from the government. The fact that many PAS members were civil servants or government officers made the ‘secret members’ culture even more crucial.
Anwar then campaigned all over Malaysia for the next few years using the PAS infrastructure to organise the events. In these ceramah, Anwar attacked Umno and called them kafir or infidels for not implementing Islamic laws in Malaysia. Anwar also demanded that the government ban the use of English in Malaysia.
Anwar was supposed to take over as the PAS president with Fadzil Noor as his deputy
It was more or less assumed that Anwar would take over as the new PAS president with Ustaz Fadzil Muhammad Noor as his deputy once Asri Muda retired in 1983.
When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over as prime minister in 1981, Anwar tried to join Umno, but Mahathir rejected him. In 1982, however, at the persuasion of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Mahathir relented and allowed Anwar to join Umno. In 1983, Yusof Rawa took over as the new PAS president when PAS split and Asri left the party to form HAMIM.
Anwar may have been one of the 800,000 unregistered members of PAS. But he was still a PAS member nevertheless, and was slated to be the next party president. So when he left PAS in 1982 and joined Umno, Anwar can be said to be a political frog in no uncertain terms.
When Anwar was sacked from Umno in 1998, he asked his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, to form a new party called Parti Keadilan Nasional (now called PKR).
Anwar, however, did not officially join PKR (like he did not officially join PAS in 1974). This is because if Anwar officially joined PKR, he would be barred from returning to Umno for five years. And Anwar was trying to get back into Umno.
Abdullah Badawi tried to bring Anwar back into Umno in 2004 but Mahathir blocked the move
In 2004, when Anwar was freed from jail, he tried to get back into Umno, and the party president and prime minister then, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, brought the matter to the Umno supreme council.
Mahathir was adamant that Anwar must not be allowed back into Umno and none of the Umno supreme council members dared go against the old man. When Anwar’s request to re-join Umno was rejected, he officially signed up as a PKR member, five years after the party was formed.
If not because of Mahathir, Anwar today would be in Umno, and PKR would no longer exist. And Najib would never have become the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.
Then, in 2008, Malaysia saw the infamous ‘16 September’ incident when Anwar enticed 30 Barisan Nasional members of parliament to crossover. The deal had more or less been sealed, but the RM900 million needed to finance the crossovers never arrived.
John Soh estimated only 15-20 BN MPs would cross over once the RM900 million was paid
John Soh, the Chinese financier who had promised the money, felt that once the RM900 million was paid there was no guarantee the 30 BN MPs would cross over. The belief was, at the most maybe only 15-20 would cross over, and it had to be either 30 or nothing.
Yes, Anwar invented Malaysia’s political katak culture. He turned crossovers into an art form. Anwar’s 48-year track record in politics has been one of crossing over from one side to the other. And if he had been successful in 2004, or in 2008, Anwar and not Najib would have been Malaysia’s sixth prime minister.
