On the cusp, Anwar is baulked by forces he forged

On the cusp of realising his long-sought goal of being the country's prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim finds his path blocked by the very forces he had forged.

The growing realisation that graduates of tahfiz schools had played a major role in PAS’s unprecedented collection of 49 parliamentary seats - the highest among parties that contested in the 15th general election - must come with ironic undertones to the man who, in his youth, led the Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim).

During his tenure as Abim president (1974-82), he built the movement into a significant presence in Malaysian politics and made its name known throughout the Islamic world.

If prominent personages of history have their starts, it is because a national or world crisis favours prominence.

Anwar’s stature

Anwar’s stature grew to national importance in the Baling crisis of November 1974 when falling rubber prices drew demonstrating university students into solidarity with struggling rubber smallholders to create a crisis that saw many activists detained under the draconian Internal Security Act.

Anwar was detained for a year and a half under the Act for activities that had dramatised the plight of rubber tappers.

When he returned to civic life, he led Abim to a presence in national affairs that was out of proportion to its stature as a mere NGO.

Hitherto, only significant political parties were able to garner such a standing.

It became obvious Anwar was gravitating towards a central position on the national stage.

His trajectory swept him into rivalry with the political parties, especially Umno, for influence on the pressing questions of public policy.

Anwar was the first major national leader to have premised his quest for the prime minister’s post on Islamic foundations.

Now, in one of those ironies in which history abounds, that conscientisation of Malaysian Muslim youth on the compelling questions of the day - which was Anwar’s forte in his youth - has redounded to stymieing Anwar rather than speeding him.

Graduates of tahfiz schools, newly registered as voters under the Undi18 initiative and automatic voter registration drive, voted overwhelmingly for PAS in the general election on Saturday.

Presumably, they did so because they saw Perikatan Nasional, to which PAS is allied, as a cleaner coalition and more attuned to and protective of Malay/Muslim interests.

This view contributed to PAS vaulting from a respectable 18-seat collection at GE14 to an astounding 49-seat gain in GE15.

PAS is flatly opposed to the Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan which won the highest number of federal seats (82) as a coalition.

Anwar is poised to gain the PM’s post if he is able to draw the backing of his old nemesis, Umno, which won 30 seats.

But that path is strewn with obstacles.

Decimating Umno’s preeminence

Not the least of these is Umno’s memory that not only did Anwar, when he was in Umno, shift the party away from its original nationalistic leanings to Islamic ones, he was also responsible for decimating Umno’s preeminence in Malaysian politics.

The latter was Anwar’s denial, via the Umno splinter, PKR, of Umno-BN’s supermajority in Parliament at GE12.

He managed to gain that seminal achievement with the help of DAP and PAS in the March 2008 polls.

His enlistment of DAP aid in that endeavour sustained till this day has saddled him with the image of a sell-out to Umno Malays.

That denial of Umno-BN’s two-thirds parliamentary majority was the beginning of a cascade of decimating effects, many self-inflicted, that have conduced to Umno-BN’s humiliation at GE15, in which the one-time behemoth of Malaysian politics limped home in third place among the competing coalitions.

Thus, Anwar has contrived to become, in the eyes of Muslim youth, as not Islamic enough, while in the view of Umno Malays, as not Malay enough.

A leader who helped conscientise Muslim youth and drew Umno away from its essentially nationalistic moorings has wound up with the pitfalls of both initiatives.

Anwar finds that, on the cusp of gaining his coveted prize, he is not exempt from the law of unintended consequences. - Mkini

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TERENCE NETTO is a journalist with half a century's experience.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.