The prime minister-in-waiting must not jump the queue

Anwar Ibrahim, the president-designate of his party and prime minister-in-waiting and his handpicked successor, Rafizi Ramli, are both extraordinary politicians as they have made equally extraordinary sacrifices.

One went to jail while the other has been sentenced to jail. But they, especially Anwar, must know there is no such job as a prime minister-in-waiting.

Granted that all four parties in the new ruling coalition of Pakatan Harapan - Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Malay-based Bersatu, Amanah (the breakaway from the Islamic party PAS), Chinese dominant DAP and Anwar’s mainly Malay Parti Keadilan Rakyat or PKR - have all inked an agreement to let Mahathir be the PM should Harapan oust the corrupt BN regime under Najib Abdul Razak.

Thereafter, Anwar would take over, presumably in the mid-term of the Harapan rule. Anwar was at that time incarcerated in prison under trumped up-charges by Najib and the scheme of things was for Mahathir to let him out of prison via a royal pardon as soon as they win the May 9 general election.

All this, bizarre as it may sound, has come to pass. Harapan is now the ruling coalition. Anwar is out of jail and Najib is awaiting trial involving money laundering, corruption, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust. If found guilty, he may end in in jail for up to 125 years. He has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges. More charges are in the pipeline.

But Anwar has to know the appointment of a PM is decided under the provisions of the Federal Constitution. There is no provision for a PM-in-waiting. Yes, there is a signed agreement to make him one. But it may not worth the paper it’s written on, unless it follows the constitutional pathway.

So, Anwar has to join the queue. Unfortunately, he cannot wait. He has unleashed Rafizi Ramli (photo) as his warlord to make sure no one stands in his way. And where does the warlord gets his war chest from?

All this is most unsettling as it begins to look like, sound and stink like Umno’s gutter politics. But we have swept that all away by resoundingly returning Harapan as the new ruling coalition on May 9. No more old politics please. Ours is the New Malaysia.

Despite being thrown into the slammer, first by Mahathir then by Najib for some two decades, Anwar clawed his way back to political power on a “reformasi” platform. The world has never seen such a fight-back from political oblivion.

But is Anwar beginning to lose his reformasi plot? Consider this. This first thing he did as a free man was to fly to Turkey and campaign for Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election as Turkey’ s president.

Erdogan’s recent election victory brings him ever closer to one-man rule, but Anwar hailed it as a “victory for the Islamic world in portraying a modern and progressive face of Islam that embraces change while not compromising on the values of our faith and the fundamental teachings of the Holy Prophet”. This is what Anwar declared on his return home.

As The Australian puts it, Anwar’s praises for Erdogan shocked many for his apparent disregard for the deterioration of human rights and democracy in Turkey, and wider international concern over what to expect from an Anwar-led government.

Anwar’s retort was, “I’m confident that Turkey would evolve into a more mature democracy. Despite some valid criticisms against his rule, Erdogan (on left in photo) persists on a democratic agenda.”

We don’t need that kind of rhetoric, least of all from Anwar.

Political scientist Bridget Welsh, who is very familiar with Malaysia politics, points out that “Anwar’s praise for Erdogan could at best be seen as poor judgment and at worst, a worrying portent for Malaysia under his future leadership.

“He should have shown much more prudence before making this visit and even greater prudence before making those remarks,” Welsh was quoted as saying by The Australiannewspaper.

National University of Malaysia associate professor Muhammad Takiyuddin Ismail was quoted as saying Anwar knew well the rise of authoritarianism in Turkey, but felt praising Erdogan was the practical thing to do for the sake of securing his image in the Muslim world.

The Australian points out that it is not the first time Anwar has shown such poor judgment and let what University of NSW emeritus professor Clive Kessler calls his “soft Islamist sentimentality” overshadow democratic principles. He was among the first foreigners in 1980 to go to Tehran to congratulate Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini following the Iranian revolution.

A facilitator for harder-line Islamists

Kessler also notes that, “as deputy prime minister in the 1990s, Anwar often proved a facilitator for harder-line Islamists and could again succumb to the same temptations”.

Activist lawyer Siti Kassim in her column in Sunday Star says “Erdogan is taking Turkey on that road to already disastrous consequences and many of our Malays applaud. Therein lies the real Malay dilemma.”

Siti asks, “Would any of the Malay leadership be willing to change its society from a religious centric one to one that is progressive and modern in character?”

We have just got rid of Najib, an Erdogan archetype as far as totalitarianism goes. Anwar must know that. He must know that those who voted for Harapan would not stomach going down that road again.

For some curious reasons Anwar now feels threatened by the very people who stood by him through thick and thin from the early reformasi days two decades ago. He now wants to get rid of them and has anointed Rafizi Ramli to do the hatchet job.

Rafizi is trying to get rid of any opposition to Anwar’s ascendency and to install him as the undisputed leader worthy of awe and worship. Surely we don’t need that in a New Malaysia that we now have after May 9. We don’t want to kiss the hand that bites us.

Rafizi and his little army have even gone to the extent to hatch a conspiracy that Mahathir, together with his long time friend and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, are out to make sure Anwar does not become PM.

Rafizi has urged PKR members to choose a deputy president for the party who will not compete with Anwar Ibrahim to become the next prime minister.

Is Rafizi suggesting that the agreement signed and sealed by all four component parties of Harapan to make the prime minister-in-waiting after Mahathir may be null and void after all?

In this year's PKR leadership elections, Rafizi, the party’s former secretary-general is challenging incumbent deputy president and Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Rafizi must know that no one, under the Federal Constitution, is allowed to jump the queue. If Rafizi or Anwar are too impatient, the prime minister-in-waiting may just become the best prime minister Malaysia never had.

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BOB TEOH is a media analyst and a life member of PKR since 2008. He resigned from the party the day after May 9. - Mkini