Hatred-filled, Dr M would rather have Chua Soi Lek as Prime Minister than Anwar

From the Biblical book of Proverbs (15.33), it says: “The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honour.”

The Qur’an (7:94) reads as follows: "Whenever We sent a Prophet to a society, We took up its people in suffering and adversity, in order that they might learn humility.”

One seeking honour must have an attitude of humility and recognising his responsibility to others must be his priority. One such personality among the ordinary citizens is the incumbent PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang.

In his speech at the recent 58^th Muktamar PAS in Kelantan, he said, “To become the prime minister is not my aim in politics. I would rather be a slave to the people.”

Be that as it may, the consensus among Pakatan allies is that Anwar Ibrahim will be made the prime minister in the event of the coalition taking over Putrajaya in the 13^th general election. Of course, this is not going to make UMNO’s supreme mentor, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, happy.

And Anwar – with his credentials, experience and international exposure – is considered by majority Malaysians to be the most qualified man to head the government.

Becoming a leader is a huge responsibility

As a devout Muslim, Hadi is aware that becoming a leader is a huge responsibility (amanah).  As such, he said that “let a prime minister be a person from among those entrusted by the rakyat, who could carry out his duty in good conscience and is blessed by God”.

This unmistakeably testifies that PAS advocates the principle of democracy in politics and the tussle to become the prime minister if Pakatan takes over Putrajaya in the next election does not exist at all.

In fact, according to political observers, there is no issue of any political scrimmage within the Pakatan coalition on the issue of who shall become the prime minister. The understanding on this issue has been generally accepted by all the three parties in Pakatan – PAS, PKR and DAP.

PAS and Pakatan Rakyat are not facing a dearth of leaders. Within PAS there are many among them who have a good religious background, are professional and also well-versed with the economy that could be entrusted to lead the nation.

Notably among them are scientist-cum-economist Dzulkefly Ahmad the Member of Parliament  for Kuala Selangor, former deputy governor of Bank Negara, economist and consultant Rosli Yaakop and former Menteri Besar of Perak Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, a Member of Parliament  and engineer by profession.

Unpretentiousness is the ethos found among PAS leaders. Political pundits have this to say: Even if a leader from PAS is appointed as prime minister this will not be a cause to worry among the non-Muslims. At present two states in the country have Menteri Besar from PAS – Kelantan and Kedah.

They have performed relatively well in the economic governance of the states even though they come from a religious background.

Nizar was chosen

But the best narration that could allay the fears of non-Muslims over PAS is that of what ensued in Perak in 2008. On 8 March 2008, the Pakatan Rakyat coalition in Perak won 31 seats of the 59 seat Perak State Assembly, which enabled it to form the state government with a simple majority.

The DAP commanded the most seats out of the 31 seats held by Pakatan Rakyat and were initially the claimants to the post of Menteri Besar. However, the Perak State Constitution stipulates that the menteri besar must be of Malay descent, and a non-Malay could only be appointed by a royal waiver by the Perak Palace.

To resolve this, all three parties sent their nominations for the menteri besar post to the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah. Reluctant Nizar was chosen over Ngeh Koo Ham of the DAP and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi of PKR on 12 March 2008 and he sworn in on 17 March 2008 at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar.

Nizar from PAS ended up working harmoniously with all the coalition members and proved himself to become a popular menteri besar although his stint as the chief of Perak government was short-lived (17 March 2008 – 12 May 2009). This was after a controversial takeover of the State by Barisan in 2009 when three Pakatan assemblymen left the coalition to become Barisan-friendly.

On 11 May 2009, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that the Sultan could not constitutionally remove Nizar from office, and that Nizar had always been the rightful menteri besar. However, Nizar at the end of the day lost the legal proceedings when, in February 2010, the Federal Court ruled Zambry Abdul Kadir from Barisan to be the lawful menteri besar.

In the same year Nizar from PAS won the Bukit Gantang parliamentary by-election with a thumping victory over the Barisan candidate (Ismail Safian) that made him a member of parliament. He clinched the support of Malays and majority non-Malays in the by-election.

Nizar proved himself as a capable and well-liked menteri besar by all the races in Perak though he represented PAS – an Islamic party. He proved himself that he could handle the state with humility, integrity and fairness.

Thus, a PAS man becoming a leader of a state or nation should not become an issue in multi-racial and democratic Malaysia.

Chua Soi Lek as prime minister

Mahathir, in a media report, was cynical when he proposed that Karpal Singh – DAP Chief, a prominent lawyer and Member of Parliament –  be chosen as the prime minister in the case Pakatan wins the next general election. This must be akin to suggesting Chua Soi Lek, the MCA President to become the prime minister within the Barisan rank.

By virtue of Mahathir’s statement, if Karpal can become the prime minister of Malaysia there is no wrong then for Chua to be elevated as prime minister in Barisan. Perhaps, UMNO under their supreme guru, Mahathir, can ponder over this matter.

Mahathir insinuated that Pakatan is fractious when it comes to the appointment of a prime minister. Political observers opine that the man Mahathir fears most in life is Anwar. Anwar was ousted from the party in 1998 when Mahathir sensed that he would be sent to the political bin if he did not act fast enough on his ambitious nemesis.

Of course, Mahathir will be the most despondent man on earth if Anwar becomes the next prime minister of the country.

The country is now blessed with a two-party system and this bodes well for the people. There may be some minor differences in Pakatan as opposed to major squabbles in UMNO and Barisan.

UMNO has virtually decimated MCA, MIC and Gerakan by its Malay-centric approach to politics and is now all alone against the mounting crusade from Pakatan against Barisan.

The split in UMNO

Pakatan associates have not split to the extent of forming PKR Baru, DAP Baru or PAS Baru just to chase for the prime minister’s post.

In 1987, for the first time in twelve years, the incumbent President, Mahathir, was challenged by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for the Presidency of UMNO. There was a forceful campaign to win the support of the approximately 1,500 delegates from party branches all over the country, who came to elect the party officers.

Some were even accused of money politics during the intense campaigns to decide who would be the president of UMNO and subsequently the prime minister of the country.

The official results declared Mahathir the winner, with 761 votes to Razaleigh's 718. There was a major split in UMNO after that episode all because of “a prime minister’s post”. The vanquished was not happy and brought the matter to the Court.

UMNO was later declared as an illegal entity by the Court for having some “phantom” branches.

Soon after, UMNO Baru was born – laboriously “delivered” by Mahathir – and Razaleigh left UMNO to form Semangat46. This split in UMNO has remained until today. And Razaleigh until now has not given up his hope to become the prime minister.

As Hadi said, “Becoming a leader is not because one desires to become one. It must be with the blessings of God and with the consent and support of the majority”.

Buzz is now steeping

There are many more senior UMNO proponents tussling, including the Perkasa Chief who is ambitious, to become or be made the prime minister. The incumbent Deputy UMNO President, Muhyiddin Yassin, has his own supporters who would want him to challenge Najib Abdul Razak – the present yet to be endorsed UMNO president – to become the prime minister and this buzz is now steeping in the party.

And Mahathir will not leave this world a happy man until he could be assured that his son Mukhriz is in line to the throne as well. Ambitious Khairy Jamaluddin – UMNO Youth Chief who holds no ministerial post and is more noted for his penchant for football than the welfare of UMNO – who is not in the good book of Mahathir and Najib is also very keen to become prime minister.

It was reported that Khairy did at one time boast that he wanted to become the prime minister before the age 40. His hope however is dashed under the present UMNO set-up.

Another point that should be highlighted here is that money politics has become the malady affecting UMNO party members who have been jostling up the political ladder since 1981.  This mucky, corrupt and irreligious norm is not found in PAS, PKR or DAP.

More perceptible within UMNO

Pro-UMNO media is playing up the issue as though Pakatan is split over the choice of a prime minister in the event of Pakatan winning the next general election but this is a non-issue to the non-Malays as well as the Malays.

UMNO and its supreme but unpopular advice-giver have failed to unnerve those who might be concerned about Pas leading a new federal government.

In a nutshell, all the hankering and throbbing to become prime minister is more perceptible within UMNO than any of the Opposition party.

Of course Hadi in a humble way “welcomed” the sincere proposal by the Ulama Wing Chief – a polite gesture on Hadi’s part to please the enthusiastic participants – that he be chosen to become the prime minister.

But wisdom prevailed in him, as he was quick to qualify that his aim in politics was not to become a prime minister. He even warned the participants of the risks of being desperately ambitious in politics.

He then aptly said, “Leadership is a huge trust and a big responsibility. Whoever becomes the prime minister is secondary. The good values of Islam should be upheld. A leader must be trustworthy, not corrupt, of high integrity and who could bring social justice to all Malaysians. And if this is achieved it is enough for me in this world.”

The rakyat have not heard this kind of humble statement springing from any UMNO leader since 1981.

Malaysia Chronicle