Twenty-years on, will Anwar finally succeed Dr M?

Twenty-years ago, Anwar Ibrahim had one foot in the most powerful office in the nation. But in September 1998, Dr Mahathir Mohamad shut the door and in the process, recharted both his former heir-apparent and the nation's political course.

Twenty-years later, the same pairing of Mahathir and Anwar is being offered to Malaysians for the 2018 general election as an alternative to the regime the two once spearheaded.

However, some have speculated that if Mahathir becomes prime minister again, he would shut the door for a second time in order to ensure his son Mukhriz's ascension to the top post.

So would history repeat itself or would Anwar be successful in Round Two of being Mahathir's potential successor?

PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli is optimistic but at the same time understands the reservations concerning the allies-turned-foes-turned-allies again.

“I don't blame people if they are sceptical or feel it is deja vu,” he told Malaysiakini.

“The last time this Mahathir-Anwar pairing was presented to the public, it led to one of the worst political crisis in the nation's history.

“Therefore, it is understandable if some members of the public are cynical about the pairing 20 years after the worst political fall out in Umno (at that time),” he added.

However, the Pandan lawmaker said he preferred to focus on the positive features of this pairing instead of the negative.

Rafizi noted how the fallout between Mahathir and Anwar in 1998 ignited a generational political awakening that produced politicians like himself, PKR vice-president and Anwar's daughter Nurul Izzah as well as DAP leaders Anthony Loke and Liew Chin Tong.

“We were in our late teens then and reformasi pushed us to come forward to fill the vacuum,” he said.

Similarly, Rafizi pointed out that Mahathir's opposition to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak would have produced another generational political awakening among the previously pro-establishment youths.

“Each of them (Mahathir and Anwar) has had a tremendous impact on the shift in Malaysians and Malay thinking.

“Each of them complimented the other's rise in power when they were in Umno. Anwar's entry into Umno largely assisted Mahathir to condemn PAS to the fringe of national politics for much of the 80s. Likewise, Mahathir approved Anwar's meteoric rise in Umno without much encumbrance (until their falling out).

“It is therefore not surprising that even in the latest episode, they continue to compliment each other,” he added.

The PKR leader stressed that Anwar would always be remembered as the father of reformasi who united the disparate opposition parties into a formidable force to challenge BN.

“At any point in the future when BN is defeated, the credit would always first go to Anwar, without whom there would not be Barisan Alternatif (1999-2002), Pakatan Rakyat (2008-2015) and Pakatan Harapan (2015-).

“If Harapan wins GE14, the public would always remember the contribution of Mahathir to reinforce Harapan that had to rebuild its strength after Anwar's jailing and the exit of PAS. The nation understands that Mahathir took Harapan (that was Anwar's creation) to Putrajaya,” he added.

Rafizi claimed Umno would continue to tweak the narratives that Mahathir hijacked Anwar's creation or that the former premier is now a tool of his ex-nemesis.

“The fact is Umno does that because they fear the Anwar-Mahathir combo. Umno’s unparalleled popularity was during Anwar-Mahathir’s combo.

“Love it or hate it – both Anwar and Mahathir have their own crowd and strength. Their crowd is almost mutually exclusive, hence their combo can only mean a strengthening of Harapan in its quest for Putrajaya because the synergies are complementary to each other,” he added.

On whether Mahathir would be willing to hand over the reins to Anwar if Harapan wins the general election and a royal pardon is secured, Rafizi predicted a “happy ending to a long and painful journey.”

“I saw my closest friends wasted, some died on their death bed hoping to see a change after they had dedicated their short young lives to reformasi. It would be a happy ending to the reformasi story of 1998 and it would be remembered as its greatest achievement,” he said.- Mkini