Without Anwar, there is no alternative govt

 

ADUN SPEAKS | Even before PKR president Anwar Ibrahim could gather the number to prove his majority, there were attempts to bypass him. There were even talks of the opposition making a deal with then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, but this did not materialise.

In the end, Anwar failed to prove his majority, he could only muster the support of about 105 MPs.

Ismail Sabri Yaakob was the winner with a razor-thin majority of 114 MPs, hardly a number to instil confidence in the country.

Anyway, for the time being, the question of who will be the prime minister has been settled. Ismail has become the ninth prime minister of Malaysia.

What is going to be the political fate of Anwar?

Within the opposition, there are some who are not happy with Anwar for not having gained the support.

Despite his earlier attempts to get the support of some Umno MPs, he has definitely failed miserably.

I really wonder why he would put hopes on Umno to get the numbers despite their dissatisfaction with Muhyiddin, the former prime minister and leader of Bersatu.

Even before last year’s budget, he counted on Umno to defeat the budget, but Umno did not deliver what was promised according to Anwar.

The question before the opposition is simply this: “Can Anwar, despite his non-delivery of the much-needed support, be counted on to provide the much-needed leadership in the future?”

Can Anwar continue to head the Pakatan Harapan coalition to face the next general election? Can Harapan form the next government? Is Anwar a liability or an asset to the opposition front or Harapan?

In a way, I am glad that Anwar did not make it to the prime minister post. I really wonder whether he could have provided the much-needed leadership to clear the country of the present mess, largely brought about by the Perikatan Nasional government.

With the Covid-19 pandemic raging, it would take a superhuman in the prime minister post to put the country on a steady path, not to mention the dismal state of the economy brought about by the pandemic.

I would think it would take two full terms to clear the mess before the wellbeing of the country could even be imagined.

Let us wait and see whether Ismail is capable of providing the leadership to address both the health and economic problems.

I don’t think he can do wonders, certainly not with the cabinet he is going to inherit. He was one of the persons who must be held responsible for not addressing the pandemic seriously.

Coming back to Anwar, I don’t think he is perfect. He must be held responsible for some of the strategic and tactical errors in the recent past. He should not have “counted the chickens before they were hatched”.

Even at the present moment, it does not make sense why he trusted some of the Umno leaders for support, especially the court cluster.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed might think that Anwar lost because he lost support.

It is easy to say this now, especially coming from a person who refused to hand over the post to Anwar while he was the prime minister under the Harapan government. Yes, Mahathir’s Parti Pejuang Tanah Air might have supported Anwar, but it is a bit too late.

Rather than “crying over spilt milk” the opposition must seriously engage in serious thinking to discuss future plans. More importantly, to strategise about winning the next general election, who can be trusted and what kind of alliances need to be forged.

No leader is indispensable; Anwar is not indispensable. But Anwar cannot be shunned just because he could not get the numbers to become the prime minister. There must be a critical appraisal by the opposition to ascertain what really went wrong and why numbers were not there.

Simply blaming Anwar for the political defeat might not be the wise thing to do, Harapan component parties must address the question of future leadership with the view to face the next general election. This is not the time for witch-hunting or putting the blame on one or two leaders.

As far as I am concerned, Anwar is still the leader of the opposition. Even if Harapan could not get a few extra votes, the difference with the PN government was small.

It was not that Harapan under Anwar sank to the ocean bottom, far from it. Anwar might have his detractors, but let us not forget that without him, the opposition might not be in the position to think of an alternative government. - Mkini

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P RAMASAMY is Penang deputy chief minister II and Perai assemblyperson.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.