WIN OR LOSE, THE GOING GETS MORE DANGEROUS FOR ANWAR: WITH ENEMIES ALREADY CIRCLING, A VICTORY AT PD MAY SIGNAL THE START OF NEXT PHASE OF ATTACK FROM POWERFUL POLITICAL FOES

Had Anwar Ibrahim had been ­expecting a smooth path back into politics, a bruising fortnight ahead of today’s by-election will have been a rude shock for the man who for two decades has symbolised Malaysia’s struggle for democratic reform.

Five months on from the May 9 election in which former strongman Mahathir Mohamad teamed up with his jailed political nemesis to end 61 years of unbroken rule by the corruption-riddled Barisan Nasional government, Anwar has faced surprisingly rigorous criticism on the campaign trail.

Having forced a by-election in the west coast seat of Port Dickson, when a newly elected MP stepped aside to make way for the prime minister-in-waiting, Anwar faces a seven-cornered contest and accusations of political arrogance as voters decide on his ­future today.

In a sense, the charges are puzz­ling. A core promise to those who voted for the now ruling Pakatan Harapan was that if elected, Mahathir would first secure a full pardon for the imprisoned Anwar and — after two years — step aside so that the 71-year-old could become Prime Minister.

Yet Anwar is now accused of “distorting democracy” by railroading his way back into politics and into the prime minister’s chair with unseemly haste.

No one is tipping an upset, though there are predictions a turnout as low as 40 per cent could deliver a discouragingly small victory margin. “A bigger margin will give the by-election the appearance of a coronation, something Anwar has been awaiting for 20 years,” said Adib Zalkapli, an analyst with political risk consulting firm Vriens & Partners. “If he wins by a smaller margin, he may be seen as merely riding on the popularity of Mahathir, without winning new support to the coalition.”

Among his challengers is former personal aide Saiful Bukhari, whose sodomy accusations saw Anwar jailed on what he has always maintained were politically motivated charges. The conviction — his second for sodomy — came as he was preparing to fight a state election, and less than two years after his coalition won the popular vote but lost the election because of gerrymandering.

There seems little doubt Saiful’s candidacy is an attempt to embarrass Anwar as he makes his long-awaited come back. Another candidate, Stevie Chan, a 51-year-old who fundraised and campaigned for Pakatan Harapan ahead of the May election, said he saw Anwar’s rushed re-entry to politics as just another symptom of Malaysia’s decades-old system of entitlement and patronage.

Chan said he voted for Pakatan Harapan “despite the agreement” between Mahathir and Anwar, not because of it, and insisted he was not alone.

“I don’t question Anwar’s fitness to become an MP, or even PM, but we must cherish what we achieved on May 9,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“Mr Anwar’s campaign of the last few weeks is like BN 2.0; loud concerts, super car exhibitions. It looks so familiar. Didn’t we just get rid of all that?”

Anwar has faced some criticism among educated, liberal Malay­sians who complain he has not articulated his vision for the country, and who fear an Anwar government could bend to powerful, conservative Islamic forces.

In a scathing opinion piece published on the Malaysiakini news site this week, commentator Mariam Mokhtar wrote that “the sheer hypocrisy, the double standards and Anwar’s strong sense of entitlement are unpalatable”.

A week earlier, she eviscerated him over his appeal to voters to resist the demands of so-called “super liberals” — the same group, she noted drily, who “marched to have him freed”.

Anwar’s image has taken a hit over his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s perceived failure, as Deputy Prime Minister and Women’s Affairs Minister, to decisively act over cases of child marriage, and the caning of several women in Terengganu state by Sharia courts for lesbianism and prostitution.

There have also been persistent rumours of tension between Mahathir — who maintains high levels of support as he pursues corruption charges against former prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies — and Anwar, who had promised to let the 93-year-old veteran govern uninterrupted until it was his turn to take over.

The two men tried to quash those rumours this week by sharing a stage for the first time in 20 years at an election rally in Port Dickson. Anwar assured a rapturous crowd that he accepted Mahathir was right now “the best man to lead Malaysia”.

It was an illustration of how far the two men have travelled since their 1998 falling out led to Mahathir first sacking Anwar as deputy prime minister then seeing him jailed for sodomy and corruption.

It was also a reminder that Anwar’s long political journey ­remains paved with obstacles.

– https://www.theaustralian.com.au