PAS should nominate Abang Jo as its Prime Minister candidate

Where is Muhyiddin today anyway?

Nehru Sathiamoorthy

Pas is finally going to try to replace Muhyiddin as the leader of Perikatan Nasional.

Unfortunately, however, like the hit 1994 Michael Learns to Rock song, Pas’s move might be “25 minutes too late.”

I have been  repeatedly saying that Muhyiddin is the wrong leader for Perikatan Nasional for nearly two years. Fortunately for Pakatan Harapan and the non-Muslims in the country, Pas probably thought that it was better to not listen to the views of a kafir like me, so now it is in a sad state.

The fact of the matter is that Muhyiddin is a manager and a peacemaker. What Perikatan Nasional needs in the circumstances that it is in however, is a leader that is warrior cum conqueror cum fighter. In other words, it needs leaders like Mahathir during his early years or Anwar, who are fearless enough to fight with those who are stronger than them, relentless enough to claw their way to the top come hell or highwater and smart enough not to be outmanoeuvred by their more well endowed opponent.

Had Pas replaced Muhyiddin with a more suitable leader earlier, for all you know, the unity government might have been toppled today and it would have been PN that is ruling in Putrajaya.

Perikatan Nasional has had multiple opportunities to conquer Putrajaya. In the aftermath of GE15, if Perikatan had shown just a little more resistance and defiance, it could have formed the government. Unfortunately, Muhyiddin simply lacked the strength, conviction, ruthlessness and relentlessness to take what he wanted, so he acted like a gentleman and good sport instead, and wrested defeat from the jaws of victory.

After GE 15, when the momentum – called the Green Wave by many pundits – was still favourable to Perikatan, Perikatan also had numerous opportunities to sweep away Pakatan from power and plant its flag in Putrajaya. Unfortunately, with a weak and indecisive leader like Muhyiddin, again Perikatan squandered its chances.

Up to the beginning of this year, if the rumours are to be believed, Perikatan still had a chance to topple PH and make its way to the corridor of power through the Dubai Move. The Dubai Move however, came to nought, and if I was a betting person, I would bet that Muhyiddin again had something to do with the Dubai Move fizzling without a trace.

Considering all this, it is high time indeed that Muhyiddin be replaced as the leader of Perikatan Nasional. Where is Muhyiddin today anyway? The last time we heard about him was probably two months ago, when he got into the wrong side of the Pahang Court and was later on investigated by the authorities for the 1BestariNet fiasco. We hear about 100 year old Mahathir, who is a nobody in the political landscape today, more than we do of Muhyiddin.

Muhyiddin is such an unsuitable leader for Perikatan Nasional today that he either cannot make the news and stay relevant in the people’s heart and mind or he appears weak and bullied every time he does make the news.

Under his leadership, Perikatan actually looks far weaker than it is, despite the fact that Perikatan is actually a very formidable opposition that has the potency of changing the government if the conditions are right.

People tend to root for the underdog, but they follow the winners. Under Muhyiddin however, Perikatan neither looks like a winner nor an underdog, and thus it has been unable to accumulate followers and or supporters who are rooting for its success.

Many people from within and without Pas likely assume that it is impossible for Pas to rule in Putrajaya, but I beg to differ. I might not want Pas to rule in Putrajaya – I am a Tamil, and a Tamil is allergic to the rule of priest, even when it comes to priests from our religion, what more the priests of somebody else’s religion – but objectively speaking, I don’t think that it is impossible for Pas to become the ruling party in Putrajaya.

I base this opinion on the fact that BJP is successfully ruling in India, although it is in many ways similar to PAS, in that it is a party that is powered by priests and religion.

Pas likely has two candidates to promote as the PM of the country – Terengganu’s Dr Sam and Kedah’s Sanusi, but of the two, it is only Dr Sam that is worthy of consideration.

As for why Sanusi is unworthy, I am not going to explain it, with the full confidence that everybody will understand why this is the case even without needing the matter to be explained. Sanusi is fine as the lieutenant, but if he is the general, the army might lose a sense of meaning and purpose.

If Dr Sam sells Pas as how Modi sells BJP, it is not impossible that the Pas might gain enough supporters and followers to rule Putrajaya. It might not be easy, but it is not impossible.

However, even if Pas removes Muhyiddin and hoists Dr Sam up as its PM candidate, I still think that it is still  “25 minutes too late”, because Anwar and PH have firmly established themselves in Putrajaya and they have the first mover advantage, which they are going to capitalise for the foreseeable future.

If Perikatan is led by Dr Sam, what Dr Sam will offer the country will be similar to what PH under Anwar is offering the country, albeit that Pas and Dr Sam will be offering it with a heavier dose of Islamic and Malay influence, while Anwar and PH will be offering it with a greater dose of non-Islamic and non-Malay influence.

Considering that both PN and PH will be roughly offering the same package, the fact that Anwar and PH are more well established and possess the first mover advantage will give them an advantage that PN will not be able to overcome in the foreseeable future.

After two years of political fighting and nothing much else, Anwar and PH have finally managed to stabilise themselves to the point that they can start doing something worthwhile for the country, like redistributing wealth, rationalising subsidies and increasing the wages and social security for the workers.

Now that the people of the country are finally getting something useful from the unity government, why would we deny ourselves the harvest, and to change the unity government and replace it with a Pas led government, that at best, will offer exactly the same as what Anwar and PH is offering.

If we replace the government, we might need to wait for another 2 more years until the new government stabilises itself and offers us something that we can use. Why must we wait and deny ourselves what Anwar and PH is offering us right now, when there is no guarantee that Pas and PN will be able to offer anything better, if anything at all, in the future?

As far as I can tell, the battle for Putrajaya between PH and PN is over with PH coming out the clear victor.

In 2025 and 2026, the battle that will occupy the imagination of the people will be the battle for the fate of the federation that will be fought between Putrajaya and the ruling parties of Sabah and Sarawak

Since Mahathir resigned in 2002, a string of weak leaders in Putrajaya has emboldened the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak to formulate a separate destiny and carve a separate identity, which is threatening to break up the Federation.

Now that Anwar has proven himself to be a strong leader, it will be incumbent upon him to launch a digvijaya to the east, to temper Sabah and Sarawak’s separatists desire and unify the federation.

When Anwar fights for the fate of the federation in the east in the coming years, Malaysians in Semananjung – be they of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent – be they of  Muslim or non-Muslim persuasion  – are almost certainly going to rally behind him to support his efforts.

In this battle, PN, which has no part to play in the politics of East Malaysia, will likely be left even further behind by Anwar and PH, as Anwar and PH establish themselves as the only government that can be expected to rule and unify the federation.

Considering that, rather than replace Muhyiddin with someone from Pas, maybe Pas should think about making Abang Jo, the premier of Sarawak, its prime minister candidate.

Abang Jo is already said to be running Sarawak as a country within a country and is likely already in conflict with Anwar, for having the temerity to position himself as the Prime Minister of the Federation in the east, which reduces Anwar’s status as the mere Prime Minister of the Federation in the West, instead of the Prime Minister of the whole federation.

Since Abang Jo likely already sees himself as Anwar’s challenger and equal, why should PN not capitalise on it?

By making Abang Jo its prime ministerial candidate, PN will be able to participate in the politics of Sabah and Sarawak and join in the battle for the fate of the federation, instead of being relegated to the sidelines of the battle and fade away into irrelevance.

Realistically speaking, PN also needs a foothold in Sabah and Sarawak to have a realistic chance of taking Putrajaya.

Considering all this, it might not be out of place for Pas and PN to make an overture to Abang Jo, under the premise that it is a “win-win arrangement” and “the enemy of an enemy is a friend.”

As for why am I making this suggestion, when I am hardly a fan of Pas and I can hardly be called a well wisher of Abang Jo, all I have to say is that just because your enemy is saying that the water is wet and fire is hot, it doesn’t make it untrue.