PH en route to Pakatan Rakyat’s fate as open season arrives

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) is on its deathbed, some two years after its formal registration amid the celebratory mood following its historic win in the 2018 general election, insiders say.

The coalition, which ran Putrajaya for 21 months before its abrupt fall from power at the height of an internal crisis in February, now looks set to go the way of Pakatan Rakyat, the three-party opposition alliance which collapsed amid irreconcilable differences between DAP and PAS.

“But while PKR was previously seen as the glue that could hold the warring parties together, now it is seen as the cause of the friction,” a senior PKR leader told FMT under condition of strict anonymity.

Anti-PKR sentiments are being openly aired by the party’s long-time and closest ally, DAP, whose leaders have long supported Anwar Ibrahim’s prime ministerial ambitions.

Calls have been reverberating at the grassroots as well as leadership levels, accusing Anwar and his party of causing the collapse of Malaysia’s first non-Umno federal government.

“Many see Anwar, whose black eye still forms the party’s symbol, as having lost his unifying skills.

“Indeed, he is now seen as a divisive element that, if not purged from the coalition, could mean a reset to 2004,” said a source close to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s inner circle.

The source was referring to the injury suffered by Anwar when he was beaten to a pulp following his dramatic arrest in 1998, the precursor to the formation of the then-Parti Keadilan Nasional which used the oval shape of an eye as its symbol.

It was also referring to the general election in 2004, where the opposition was almost completely wiped out from federal and state seats while DAP held on to its traditional non-Malay support base.

But while DAP leaders are apprehensive about Anwar, many are also aware that throwing their support behind Mahathir as prime minister again would be disastrous, even if there is a black and white agreement for him to give up power after a certain length of time.

A veteran Umno leader said the concern was over the nature of Malay politics.

“So many Malay politicians in recent history have shown that however factionalised and divisive they are, they are always willing to bury the hatchet and be friends again.

“There is no telling why Mahathir would not do the same with the people who stood by him in 2016,” said the retired leader, referring to Muhyiddin Yassin.

DAP leaders have nothing to lose if they choose to stick with Mahathir.

For one, they would be given senior posts, even if they are aware of their limited power to effect change.

But pro-Anwar leaders within DAP would disagree. These include maverick state-level leaders such as Selangor’s Ronnie Liu and Johor’s Dr Boo Cheng Hau, who have always been vocal against the central command.

Liu and Boo are still convinced that Anwar is PH’s best bet, and that any compromise to make Mahathir the prime minister again is out of the question.

“He (Mahathir) may use this position as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Muhyiddin. He may gang up with Muhyiddin and Azmin Ali again if the offers are good, and dump PH,” Liu wrote on his Facebook today, referring to Anwar’s nemesis in PKR, Azmin, who joined Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional government.

Boo rejoined: “Anwar Ibrahim is still the indisputable choice for PH’s future prime minister candidate, for he has been the stalwart in providing narratives and foundations for Malaysia’s institutional reforms for the past 20 years.

“On the contrary, Tun Mahathir has been proven to be the stumbling block to institutional and GLC reforms.”

For now, it is difficult to say which lobby is stronger: the one advocating Mahathir’s return to power, or the one which would like to see Anwar finally in the seat he has been eyeing for decades.

“But it’s not about pro-Anwar and pro-Mahathir lobbies; it’s about anti-Anwar and anti-Mahathir parties. Both sides are vicious and adamant,” said a source from Amanah.

That Anwar will never occupy the spacious suite in the Perdana Putra complex looks almost a foregone conclusion.

And even if he could bring DAP and Amanah leaders back to his side, his sworn enemies still abound, including in Sabah where his party is in a fragile coalition with Warisan.

“Everyone knows about the Sabah top leader who has repeatedly sworn in private to ensure that Anwar will never become the prime minister,” a Warisan insider told FMT.

“He has even invoked the triple Islamic oath of ‘wallahi, wabillahi watallahi’ in vowing not to support Anwar as prime minister,” he added. - FMT