Mahathir still the government’s main opponent, says academic

Analysts agree that Anwar Ibrahim is the best choice as parliamentary opposition leader but all eyes would remain on Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

PETALING JAYA: Port Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim, who is PKR president, is the perfect choice for parliamentary opposition leader but the role will be mostly symbolic, says political scientist James Chin.

He said it is Dr Mahathir Mohamad who forms the real opposition to the Perikatan Nasional government and prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Chin, of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute, said Anwar was the natural choice as parliamentary opposition leader because he is charismatic and articulate.

“In the British parliamentary system, the opposition parliamentary leader is seen as the alternative PM but no matter how you see it, this is not the case for Anwar. All eyes will be on Mahathir and Muhyiddin,” Chin said.

“You have to give Anwar credit for not giving up but where the PM’s position is concerned he has missed the boat.”

He said even if a motion of no confidence against Muhyiddin succeeds and a new government is formed, it would still be built around Mahathir.

“The best thing for Anwar to focus on for the opposition is to make sure as many MPs as possible support Mahathir’s motion of no confidence. This would be ironic given their past relationships and the fact that Anwar would not be in the running for the PM’s post.”

However, another analyst, Jeniri Amir, said Anwar should forget about political issues in the Dewan Rakyat and focus on bread and butter issues which will be on people’s minds.

“Forget about politics, forget about the motion of no confidence or even becoming prime minister. People are losing jobs and the economy is suffering. Be a proper opposition leader and focus on these issues,” he said.

He agreed that no one was a better choice than Anwar as opposition leader. “He knows the ins and outs of both the government and opposition. In the Dewan Rakyat, you need a good orator and fighter,” said Jeniri, who was formerly attached to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

“I don’t think Mahathir has it in him to be the parliamentary opposition leader any more, and it is also not proper as PPBM is not in the opposition.” - FMT