"Go ahead and boycott Dewan Rakyat"

GOOD IDEA: Parliament sessions without Anwar will probably be less troublesome for the government

Azmi Anshar, NST

IF Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his band of crony members of parliament are adamant that boycotting the opening day of the new Dewan Rakyat meeting reinforces his scandalous cause that the 13th General Election was rigged, the only thing left to say is: go ahead.

Already, Anwar's fib that GE13 was rigged has been denounced by Dr Chandra Muzaffar, among others. Rightly, Anwar's boycott proposal has been lambasted by government leaders but if the PKR de facto leader and probable house opposition leader insists on going ahead, then it is only right that he be buttressed with all the encouragement for his unprecedented, self-imposed proscription.

As a matter of fact, the government might just be comfortable with the idea of an absentee Anwar, plus a handful loyalist MPs who follow him around like he was the Pied Piper. Why not? Fewer troublesome sessions by virtue of less theatrics and stunts that Anwar is capable of remonstrating.

Here's what Anwar will be burdened with if he doesn't take his oath as MP: he obviously cannot sit inside the house let alone debate, submit questions, raise supplementary questions, lob big ticket issues, attack/counter-attack ministers or backbenchers or defend himself from all kinds of charges.

He may be allowed to loiter in the expanse of the Parliament lobby, giving one ludicrous press conference after another day after day on why he needs to debate his cause outside the house instead of inside it.

A boycott forces people's attention on Anwar's ponderous whining about not taking over Putrajaya and seeing his fantasy of becoming prime minister vanish. (Oops, it already has, but Anwar still doesn't get it.)

It might even earn him brownie points with his backers and put a disconcerting spotlight on Anwar's fantastical claim that 40,000 foreigners were flown into Malaysia - if it was at all logistically possible - to cast illegal votes.

Everyone now knows why Anwar has entered into this political black hole: there is no turning back for him because that would mean being sucked into oblivion, and that won't do for his political nihilism because he must be the centre of attention that all crises must start and end with.

It's true that Malaysian realpolitik has been on steroids since Anwar's 1998 sacking as deputy prime minister and that politicking went into unchartered territories, but at the expense of political stability and economic prosperity, the kind of positive environment countries like Spain and Greece will kill for.

Anwar turns to his real talent -- hyping his worth as a "leader" in times of bedlam and uncertainty, never mind his moral character that gets turned on by the bully pulpit in rallying or intoxicating people into executing the absurd.

His years as deputy prime minister were skewed towards building a nest of cronies and controlling mainstream media.

So, on the greater scheme of things, Anwar's big ticket rallies nationwide, including one in Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur on June 22, is designed to parade him on a moveable mosh pit that will be participated by those double-faced leaders from DAP and Pas, who have moved on and accepted the results but still unable to resist the spectacle of adoring crowds.

Anwar is playing a bluff in lathering a cause embarrassing to his ragtag opposition axis who have accepted that election fraud complaints must be addressed in the election courts, not grandstanding through mass rallies or a boycott.

However, Anwar knows all this, so he plays the bluff by not taking the oath on Dewan Rakyat's first day but will do so within six months, otherwise he forfeits his seat to force a by-election.

On the other hand, he might just love that by-election while taking advantage of its obvious loophole that gives an edge to the manipulator.

On the balance of advantages, Anwar will lose but damn if he cares for the implication or if his constituents suffer at being "unrepresented".