Suddenly, Mahathir’s party – PPBM (Bersatu) – may balloon to 41 Parliamentary seats from the current 26 seats, which was doubled through defections of UMNO MPs. Not bad for a party which won only 13 seats in the May 2018 General Election. If that happens, it will be an appreciation of 215% of seats to a political party that was just formed in September 2016.
Of course, that would mean the prime minister’s party will become bigger than Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR, currently the biggest party with 50 MPs in the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition. How could that happen? The same answer how PPBM doubled its number from 13 to 26 now – defections. But this time, it would be defections from within the allies in the coalition.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali appears to be ready to jump ship, bringing together with him the 15 MPs who chose to stay loyal with him despite his gay sex video scandal. The blue-eyed boy of Mahathir Mohamad, instead of attending the PKR retreat in Port Dickson for a “brainstorming” session in the wake of his explosive homosexual scandal, had chosen to boycott the event.
As PKR plunges into crisis, PM Mahathir quickly accepted an invitation from PM-in-waiting Anwar to attend the PKR retreat during the weekend at the 5-star Lexis Hibiscus Hotel. Speaking at the event, the 94-year-old premier warned PKR leaders to be careful of opportunists seeking to advance their self-interests by infiltrating Pakatan Harapan’s ranks.
On the surface, it seems like Anwar Ibrahim was behind the gay sex video clips. After all, almost all those arrested by the police were linked to Anwar’s camp. If indeed the PKR president was as dumb as that, leaving all the trails back to him, then he is dumber than he look. In the same breath, Mahathir would not have had attended the PKR retreat.
When asked to comment on the absence of Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali at the retreat in Port Dickson, PM Mahathir said – “That is his business. It is none of my concern.” Tactically, Azmin should attend the event together with the prime minister, just to send a message that he’s not only untouchable, but also as clean as a whistle for not hiding in a corner – sulking and crying.
Instead of condemning gutter politics at the PKR event, Mahathir spoke about the importance of unity and the danger of moles and opportunists – suggesting that Anwar was not the mastermind, or at least there isn’t proof to point fingers at the PM-in-waiting. Mahathir could actually reject the invitation – to show his displeasure or anger – if Anwar was indeed the mastermind.
To suggest that Anwar, who was himself sent twice to jail for sodomy charges, has suddenly become super clever – even more genius than Mahathir in the reverse psychology game so much so that the police could not link him directly to the gay sex video production is quite a hallucination. The simple question to ask is – why did not Azmin Ali sue the pants off Haziq, who confessed to being the man in the clip?
In fact, Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz, the man who shamelessly confessed as one of the sex actors, has openly challenged Azmin Ali to take legal action against him if the latter was confident of his own innocence over the sex video scandal. Azmin’s refusal to sue Haziq is being seen as an admission that the senior minister has something to hide, similar to Najib’s refusal to sue the WSJ over 1MDB scandal.
It doesn’t matter if a lawsuit will not do any good or just a symbolic gesture. If DAP Lim Guan Eng or his father Lim Kit Siang is being accused of having unnatural sex with another man, you can bet your last penny that they will instantly go bonkers and will not think twice about suing not only the accuser, but the hotel, its management, staff, bed, CCTV, TV and hamster associated with the sex scandal.
At the very least, Azmin should have sworn on the Quran that he is not a homosexual or heterosexual, and that the man in the gay sex video was not him as claimed by Haziq, never mind such stunt could only convince gullible village folks. It’s absolutely bizarre that Azmin continues to bitch and blame the mastermind, but refuses to act against Haziq – the man who has defamed him.
Curiously, on Sunday night (July 21), Azmin claimed that he knows the identityof the mastermind behind the circulation of the sex video which implicated him. But at the same time, the Economic Affairs Minister said he would continue to cooperate with party president Anwar Ibrahim. Heck, he even warned media not to provoke him and Anwar as they have been together for many decades.
His statements came after Anwar agreed with the police force’s controversialconclusion that Azmin was not involved in the sex video. Actually, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador did not clear Azmin’s name. The police chief only said the gay sex video is genuine, but the identities of the two men in the clips cannot be determined, whatever that means.
Exactly how Azmin could continue working with Anwar, let alone bring back their old sweet memory of togetherness, if the PKR president was the mastermind? Interestingly, at the same time, Azmin warned that his loyalty has its limit. Was he suggesting that he could and might leave PKR and jump ship – if people continue to laugh and mock his homosexuality?
What type of grass has Azmin been smoking since the scandal exploded? He seems like a confused man who contradicts himself at every corner. Does his remarks that both Anwar and he have an unforgettable relationship indicate that the PM-in-waiting had nothing to do with the scandal? But if that is true, why had he also threatened to end his loyalty, presumably with PKR?
Hence, if Anwar was the hidden hand behind the sex scandal, it was a screw-up plan from the beginning for ignoring the possibility that his own party could split and becomes a smaller party. If Azmin were to jump ship to his Godfather Mahathir’s party, PKR will be reduced to 35 MPs only, while PPBM will become stronger with 41 MPs.
The burning question is will Mahathir gladly accept the membership applications of Azmin and his 15 followers into PPBM, when the prime minister crosses that bridge? What would be the perception on the ground when that happens? Comments from the Malays on social media suggest that the majority of them believe Azmin is as guilty as hell. And that isn’t good for the ambitious man who desires to become a premier.
– http://www.financetwitter.com
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