IT has been an unforgettable couple of weeks for the folks in Port Dickson.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has shaken many hands, spoken at countless ceramah and charmed his Chinese supporters with his broken Mandarin phrases. He has promised to bring change to this laidback resort town and he has also sung and danced his way into the hearts of the local folks.
Everyone knows of Anwar but to be able to see him up close has been something else, and that includes the sight of him jogging barefoot on the beach in the morning. Pictures of his seaside workouts have drawn a lot of likes on Twitter.
It has been a gruelling campaign and come tomorrow, the man who went from a position of power to prison, could be on the way back to power.
Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad may be the wittiest of all the candidates – especially for coupling his chair logo with the slogan, “Sila duduk jangan lari” (take a seat don’t run) – and Saiful Bukhari Azlan the handsomest, but Anwar will be Port Dickson’s choice tomorrow.
His campaign team has stepped up efforts to ask people to come out and vote, blasting out robo-calls from Anwar to registered voters.
His campaign team is anxious about tomorrow’s turnout as only 63% of the 7,161 armed forces, police personnel and their spouses turned up to cast their ballots for early voting on Tuesday.
More than 10,000 of Port Dickson’s 75,000 voters reside outside the constituency and the campaign team wants them to return tomorrow to give Anwar the winning majority as prime minister-in-waiting.
Despite the sure-win scenario, Anwar has not taken anything for granted. He has campaigned as though there is no tomorrow.
He was over the moon when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad showed up on Monday night to speak before a packed ceramah crowd.
He has since told closed circles that he felt humbled and grateful to the Prime Minister. They were apparently sharing the same stage for the first time in 20 years.
He really believes Dr Mahathir is sincere about the succession plan this time around.
During their joint ceramah appearance, he declared that Dr Mahathir was the best man to lead Malaysia at this point in time and said he loves the elder man as a “father and leader”.
Dr Mahathir’s presence was an important gesture, even though his speech fell short of expectations.
The elder man went on about why Pakatan Harapan won the general election and his concerns for the state of the Indians and Malays. He walloped Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and spoke about how he and Anwar went from foes to friends.
Many in the audience, especially the Anwar boys, were waiting for what they called “the moment”, that is, a clearly-enunciated call to Port Dickson folk to give Anwar a big win but it did not happen.
It was a positive speech but it had this “perjuangan belum selesai” (the struggle is not over) tone to it and those who know Dr Mahathir knows what that means.
There was also some disappointment that he had made no mention of the political succession or the transition.
But those familiar with Dr Mahathir said that is vintage Mahathir. He does not subscribe to unrestrained praise or support, even for those he approves of.
Prime ministers usually do not campaign in by-elections and as far as Dr Mahathir was concerned, implicit in his presence at Port Dickson is that Anwar is an exception and the chosen one.
Furthermore, Dr Mahathir is selective about evening events because his family likes him to be resting at home by 11pm.
All said and done, Dr Mahathir’s Port Dickson gesture went a long way in quelling whispers that the two tigers are circling each other on the hill.
Meanwhile, the erudite Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has called for Anwar to be immediately appointed deputy prime minister once he is sworn into Parliament.
The former law minister said this was necessary or else the world would look askance at Malaysia for having a future prime minister sitting on the backbenches of Parliament.
But political insiders said Anwar is older and wiser this time around. He does not want to repeat the mistake he made 20 years ago.
He understands Dr Mahathir much better than before. He knows that certain things about Dr Mahathir have changed.
At the same time, certain things have also not changed – the man who was known as a dictator does not like to be pushed or dictated to.
Dr Mahathir was quite sincere about the succession the first time around until he was pushed. He felt betrayed because he had brought Anwar into Umno, paved the way for him and when he was stabbed in the back, he brought out an even sharper knife.
Anwar’s rush to contest a by-election so early in the day had led to speculation that he is in a hurry to take over the premiership.
He will be one big step closer to the premiership after Port Dickson. It also means that speculation about the transition will intensify as people jostle to get close to him and advise him on how to move forward.
His every word and action will be closely watched for signs as to whether he is prepared to wait for Dr Mahathir to complete his two-year term.
Anwar’s fall from grace back then was because he listened too closely to advisers who gave him poor advice.
He was then, as some pointed out, only two inches from the top.
This time around, he should take a deep breath of the sea breeze in Port Dickson and listen to his own inner voice on how best to cross that critical two inches to the top.
THE STAR
I say what Anwar should now that he is the PD MP now is to one by one work on the promises he made to Port Dickson folks. That is 1st and foremost. Let Dr.M be continue to do what is on the plate. Mahathir has not aignalled he is done. So show PD what MP he can be.
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