Undermining PM with the stroke of a pen

When it comes to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, it’s obvious that it is a monumental task to juggle the interests of many coalitions such as BN, GPS, GRS, and other MPs.

Hence, Anwar (above, right) made a good move by getting the coalition leaders to sign an agreement to stabilise the government and find common ground which they can work with.

No doubt, I can foresee some differing views coming up among the coalitions later, given the present government’s structure, but the agreement would compel them to sit down, iron out issues, and come up with some form of compromise.

But it doesn’t do Anwar any good when his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi makes certain moves that would certainly make the former look like a fool among the electorate and his political allies.

I’m referring to Zahid’s (above, left) decision to reappoint former Machang MP Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub as Felcra chairperson yesterday.

Bear in mind that Jazlan’s reappointment came just days after the cabinet decided to axe all political appointees in government-linked firms and bodies.

Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub

Let me stress a point here. The cabinet collectively decided on it and being the deputy prime minister, Zahid was definitely privy to the decision – unless he was snoozing away during the cabinet meeting.

So, what gives, Mr PM? Is Zahid so powerful that he can ignore a cabinet decision?

To digress, veteran politicians know that Anwar and Zahid share a close bond since the 1970s, back when the former was leading the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim).

In fact, even when Anwar was sacked from Umno in 1998, it was said that the duo kept close contact with one another. In other words, we can safely assume that both of them are tight friends.

Arrogance kicking in?

So, why did Zahid reappoint Jazlan to Felcra, knowing that the decision would undermine the cabinet and his pal, Anwar?

I understand that Jazlan is a key ally to Zahid within Umno but wouldn’t such a move even incur the wrath of his own colleagues within the nationalist party who are not aligned with him and those trying to “rehabilitate” their image after the thrashing BN received in the last general election?

Zahid seems to have forgotten how unpopular he is within Umno and he must remind himself how close he came to losing the Bagan Datuk seat.

In fact, he even came close to being ousted as BN chairperson right after the polls. Perhaps, all those incidents had failed to instil some humility within the veteran politician.

To be fair, maybe Jazlan is a good administrator and deserves to be Felcra chairperson. However, what Zahid should have done is consult the cabinet and get the latter’s agreement to his appointment.

At least, that would show that due process was followed in Jazlan’s reappointment. However, making arbitrary decisions like this would not help Jazlan, Zahid, or even Anwar’s image.

The onus now falls on Anwar to rectify the situation. What is the Tambun MP going to do next? Is he going to use his authority to revoke Jazlan’s reappointment (and incur Zahid’s ire) or would he just indulge the Umno president (making a mockery of the cabinet in the process)?

In any case, Anwar now needs to consider the fact that his political foes may not come from Perikatan Nasional alone but also within his own coalition.

And with friends like Zahid, Anwar doesn’t really need enemies. - Mkini

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G VINOD is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

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