The Next Prime Minister Will Be From PPBM

So, I would say, the next prime Minister, whether in two years or five years, will be from PPBM and not from PKR. But it will be a much bigger PPBM than now. Many more Umno people, plus those from Sabah and Sarawak, will join PPBM over the next year or so. Even some from PKR will join PPBM. And then, by May 2020, Mahathir will announce his real successor, which will be from PPBM, and Anwar will be told to go to hell.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

(Bloomberg) – Malaysia’s would-be prime minister says he expects to take power from Dr Mahathir Mohamad in less than two years but wants to give the current leader enough time to govern effectively before he assumes control.

“Of course it’s not five years because he’s made it very clear they would not exceed two years,” PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim said in an interview in New York on Bloomberg Television yesterday.

“But it’s important to allow him to govern effectively because we are in very difficult and trying times.”

Mahathir pledged during last year’s election campaign to stand aside for Anwar once he was pardoned, which happened just a week after the opposition’s shock victory in May. The 93-year-old Mahathir then pushed back the timeline to one to two years. Anwar concurred, saying he planned to travel and spend time with his family after more than three years of imprisonment.

The men have presented a united front to the public, giving Mahathir a free hand at rooting out corruption and getting to the bottom of a sprawling scandal over state fund 1MDB before Anwar steps in.

That public stance belies decades of enmity between them: Mahathir fired Anwar as his deputy in 1998 over a dispute on how to respond to the Asian financial crisis. Anwar was later jailed for committing sodomy and abusing power, which he denied, then subsequently imprisoned for another sodomy conviction. Anwar has said that the charges were politically motivated.

Anwar has shown signs of impatience. Despite saying he would spend a year away from politics, he returned to campaign for a Parliament seat just five months after his release. He was then allowed a seat in the top circle of the ruling Pakatan Harapan’s presidential council, while holding no Cabinet position. He also became the chairman of a parliamentary caucus for reform and governance.

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Anwar is always conspiring, which has been his trademark since the beginning

Why do they need to keep repeating that Anwar Ibrahim is going to take over from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister on or before May 2020? If you want to take over then take over lah! Why keep talking about it?

Somehow Anwar wants people to know that beyond any shadow of doubt he is going to become the Prime Minister within the next 15 months. It could be earlier but it will not be later than another 15 months. And Anwar keeps talking about it lest people forget.

Actually, this has happened before. Back in August 1998, Mahathir announced that Anwar was his successor. This was guaranteed and there were no two ways about it. Barely 48 hours later, Anwar found himself without a job and three weeks later he was behind bars and did not see freedom until six years later.

Such is the fortune of politics. You can be standing in line for hours waiting to be served, and as soon as you reach the counter and it is your turn, the counter closes and the sign reads, “Gone for lunch. Next counter please.”

Had you known you would have queued in the line at the next counter to start off with. But then who can know what is going to happen once you reach the front of the queue and it is your turn?

If Mahathir hands the post of Prime Minister to PKR then PPBM might as well be closed down

Before this many people reached the front of the queue but never made prime minister. Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman. Tun Musa Hitam. Tun Ghafar Baba. Muhyiddin Yassin. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Even Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in a way reached the front of the queue and never made prime minister. And let us not forget Tun Ghazali Shafie. I suspect Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is another one who reached the front of the queue but will never make prime minister. And, of course, we have Anwar Ibrahim who feels the only reason God put him on this earth is to become Malaysia’s Prime Minister.

Why did Mahathir make Musa Hitam his deputy? Because he felt threatened by Tengku Razaleigh and he needed Musa to keep Tengku Razaleigh at bay (plus because Musa won the deputy contest).

Why did Mahathir make Ghafar his deputy? Because both Musa and Razaleigh were threats once they united under ‘Team B’ so Mahathir needed a neutral and non-controversial deputy acceptable to both sides to unite the Malays in Umno.

Why did Mahathir make Anwar his deputy? Because Mahathir had no choice since Anwar had ousted Ghafar and took over as Umno’s Deputy President, which, according to tradition, ‘entitles’ Anwar to the post of Deputy Prime Minister.

PPBM will continue to grow and will become stronger as long as it does not hand over the post of Prime Minister to PKR

Why did Mahathir make Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi his deputy? Because Mahathir needed an ‘ulamak’ who was also seen as ‘Mister Clean’ as his number two to counter PAS, which was beginning to get more Malay support in the urban areas and on the West Coast since the birth of the Reformasi movement in 1998.

Why did Mahathir make Najib the deputy to Abdullah? Because if not then it would have been Muhyiddin and somehow Mahathir did not trust Muhyiddin.

And why did Mahathir make Dr Wan Azizah his deputy? Because she can never become prime minister so she is no threat and by appointing Wan Azizah that would block Anwar from becoming the deputy.

So you see, Mahathir always has his reasons when choosing his successor or his number two. And Anwar does not fit in to the criteria. Hence Anwar has to keep repeating that he is going to be the next prime minister and it is going to happen on or before May 2020. This is a symptom of insecurity. Anwar is worried it is not going to happen, which is why he keeps repeating that mantra.

PPBM’s only value is the post of Prime Minister

I do not think Mahathir will hand the post of prime minister to Anwar. PPBM or Pribumi is really nothing much to shout about. What does PPBM have? PPBM has only ex-Umno people (those who Mahathir called rubbish or sampah). Other than that, the party has nothing.

PPBM does not even have the largest number of seats in Parliament. The number of seats PPBM has is equivalent to Mat Sabu’s party, Amanah, which is a party full of clowns. To get more seats it has to bring in cross-overs from Umno.

But there is one valuable thing that PPBM owns. And that is the post of Prime Minister. Without that post, PPBM has no value whatsoever. So why would Mahathir want to hand over PPBM’s ‘crown jewels’ to PKR?

Once PKR takes over the post of Prime Minister it would be gone forever. PPBM will never get it back.

Without the post of Prime Minister, Umno no longer has much value left

Umno was strong because it held the post of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister since 1955. Once it lost that valuable asset in May 2018, Umno had really not much value left. Even Umno’s majority seats in Parliament are no longer worth much.

If Mahathir allows Anwar to become Prime Minister, then PPBM might as well be closed down. PPBM without the post of Prime Minister is not worth much. Because PPBM holds the post of Prime Minister, the party is going to become stronger and stronger as time goes on. Lose that post of Prime Minister to PKR and PPBM is doomed.

So, I would say, the next prime Minister, whether in two years or five years, will be from PPBM and not from PKR. But it will be a much bigger PPBM than now. Many more Umno people, plus those from Sabah and Sarawak, will join PPBM over the next year or so. Even some from PKR will join PPBM. And then, by May 2020, Mahathir will announce his real successor, which will be from PPBM, and Anwar will be told to go to hell.