Rafizi, Tajuddin and the question of Anwar’s obsession with power

FORMER economy minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli might not be too off the mark when he described Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as once being obsessed with becoming the prime minister of the country.

Not surprisingly, academic Professor Tajuddin Rashidi, who has carved out a role as a supporter of Anwar, has sprung to his defence. He chastised Rafizi for being unkind to Anwar, having supported him in the party.

He further added that Rafizi saying Anwar was obsessed with power was an unkind act.

Tajuddin thinks that if Rafizi has nothing good to say about Anwar, he should wither away from politics. In backing Anwar, Tajuddin said that if he had gone through the sufferings undergone by Anwar, he would have said goodbye to politics.

It is well known that Tajuddin is no longer the objective analyst he once was. Today, every now and then, he springs up in defence of Anwar. Maybe Anwar has done a favour for him. I am not sure.

One need not agree with Rafizi on everything, for he is often all talk but no action. But it must surely be admitted that, having been close to Anwar in PKR for many years, he knows the prime minister better than Tajuddin.

Unless, of course, Tajuddin can claim that he has a superior understanding of Anwar.

During my time in DAP, I was a strong supporter of Anwar, having taken umbrage with the former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on many issues, including the arrest and incarceration of Anwar.

I genuinely believed that Anwar, when he was in the political wilderness, had the potential to bring about serious structural reforms in the country.

Now, after seeing Anwar in the position of prime minister for more than three years, I realise that I was terribly wrong.

I suppose this is the same realisation on the part of Rafizi and many other leaders. I have come to believe that when Anwar was in the opposition, he pretended to be a reformer that he was not.

In other words, Anwar’s obsession with wanting to become prime minister was the reason reforms became part of his political agenda.

After assuming the coveted post of prime minister, the only thing that can be said is: what reforms?

Tajuddin, as an academic, seems to have lost touch with objectivity. Lately he has become more prone to blindly supporting Anwar even when there is no evidence of him translating promises of reform into tangible actions.

Anwar will go down as one of the worst prime ministers this country has had. Unlike Anwar, other prime ministers before him never promised far-reaching reforms, nor did they invoke reforms to attain power.

Given this, what is so terribly wrong in saying that Anwar was once obsessed with attaining the position of prime minister? Having attained the target, reforms have been relegated to the past.

Rafizi is not too wrong in saying that Anwar was indeed obsessed with power in order to become the prime minister.

Former DAP stalwart and Penang deputy chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council chairman.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia