Sorry Anwar but it's time for you to step aside

So the dust settles on the Umno-led win in Malacca and the cheers of their supporters calling out the name of the convicted felon from Pekan ring in our ears.

Malaysian politics is much more personality-based than it should be and I’ve often been pegged as an Anwarista because I think we need a popular Malay-led multi-racial party and he was the only one in our history who delivered that.

I was part of the crowds that came out to support Anwar Ibrahim on three occasions each a decade apart – in Reformasi in 1998 when it was in solidarity with his arrest and beating, in 2008 when he was the star performer as the opposition swept five states and he briefly threatened to take Putrajaya. 

And most of all, in 2018, when my heart was full of joy as I was among the thousands who greeted him at Padang Timur when he was freed from prison.

Certainly on sentiment, I feel bad giving up on someone who spent 10 years in jail and there is no doubt in my mind, the man has been cheated out of victory on a number of occasions.

But he also cheated himself through poor choices and lousy gambles – and by extension, he has also let us down.

Too many times he lost the poker game, and he didn’t realise that in doing so he has lost credibility and momentum.

To make matters worse, the big winner from all his attempted bargains with the tainted Umno of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi – has been Umno and not Pakatan Harapan or PKR.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) and PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim

Indeed, his premature and ultimately failed "strong, formidable and convincing majority" declaration has already entered the lexicon as a byword (or should that be phrase?) for an empty promise.

He also didn’t realise that many of his supporters didn’t want him to play the same dirty game of toppling regimes by encouraging party-hopping and would prefer to see him perform honourably even if it meant defeat, rather than field frogs under the PKR/Harapan banner.

There were other factors of course for the crushing defeat in Malacca - like the Malay community experiencing buyers’ remorse when Harapan took over. Many of them clearly prefer a thief of their own race instead of allowing others a say in the nation’s future.

At his peak, Anwar was electrifying - the finest speaker in the country but he has proven himself to be a poor judge of character and manager of those under him.

He had a habit of playing favourites with the likes of Azmin Ali and Ezam Mohd Nor and then moving from one to the next and discarding the other, who would occasionally react much like a jilted lover.

Former PKR member Azmin Ali (left) with Anwar Ibrahim

His aide and Perak PKR chief Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak is clearly an ambitious and disruptive force in the party who should be exorcised while his habit of being drawn to moneybags was another disappointing element.

Certainly, the likes of Larry Sng and Edmund Santhara did not prove to be of any benefit to the party and they jumped ship at the first opportunity.

Worse still is the vicious infighting that continually rears its head around the time of PKR elections. It was already ugly during Zaid Ibrahim’s colourful tenure in the party in 2010 and got really out of hand in 2018.

So deep and brutal was the infighting and backstabbing that it laid the groundwork for the party split that destroyed the Harapan government.

To me, Anwar should do what most Malaysian leaders would never dream of doing - resign to take responsibility for his failure.

Actually, our nation and politics are badly in need of generational change.

The likes of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Lim Kit Siang, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Abdul Razak, Zahid, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Rais Yatim and Abdul Hadi Awang have been public figures and dominant politicians for 30, 40 and in some cases even 50 years.

Whatever positive and negative qualities each may have had – they have contributed to the current toxic stagnation we are experiencing, and I suspect we would be better off if they all stood aside at the next election.

People sometimes say the young have no experience, but look at the damage the old have done.

PKR’s future is at crossroads, and because it is still potentially a game-changer in terms of racial politics, it is critical that a difficult step be taken. Anwar the man must be jettisoned so that the best of his ideas may triumph.

It remains to be seen if someone can step out of the shadows and lead the party and perhaps the country to a brighter future, but the difficult step must be taken before the 15th general election becomes a huge debacle. - Mkini

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MARTIN VENGADESAN is associate editor at Malaysiakini.