Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should realise that he is in power not because people voted outright for him. He is in power because people wanted to punish the Perikatan Nasional government in 2022.
Today, huge cracks are starting to appear in Anwar’s government and it does not look like he can easily plaster over them to hide them.
When Harapan was the opposition, we used to criticise the PKR leadership when its infighting created headlines. Azmin Ali was at loggerheads with Rafizi Ramli, while other lesser-known party leaders were also indulging in some power grabbing.
When the convicted felon Najib Abdul Razak was prime minister and his corruption and 1MDB scandals were at their height, Malaysians wondered why removing him was still a problem.
Many said: “Najib survived because Harapan is weak. Najib is still prime minister because Harapan cannot exploit the current conundrum because Harapan is fractured.”
Get a grip, Anwar
Today, all that pales in comparison with the current spat between DAP chairperson Lim Guan Eng and Umno-Baru’s Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Can Anwar not see that this is doing him more harm than good?
Zahid is aligning with PAS to hold a solidarity rally in support of Najib. Having a rally will undermine Anwar’s leadership. How can Anwar allow a coalition party member to hold a rally in support of a thief and the world’s worst kleptocrat?
So, when will Anwar get a grip on the situation and force the warring leaders of his coalition party members to stop their public spats?
Keeping silent says more about Anwar’s leadership than it does anything else.
Incredibly, Najib appears to wield much power despite being behind bars. More importantly, Anwar’s acknowledgement of Najib’s insincere last-minute apology, and claiming that he welcomed it because he was the “father of the nation” did more harm than good, to his reputation.
It also did not help when he was wishy-washy about Najib’s house arrest, saying that it had nothing to do with him, but it was the Pardons Board’s decision and the Agong’s discretion. All this exposes more of Anwar’s weakness as a leader.
If he, as the prime minister of the nation, and the most powerful man cannot even decide, take responsibility, or convince others that a particular line of action should be taken, then he is very weak.
Najib was investigated, charged and sentenced. He should be allowed to spend his days peacefully in prison, and not create havoc and chaos outside. Anwar should stop entertaining him and prevent Zahid from making subtle threats to his leadership.
Not angry, just disappointed
We welcomed the political tsunami of 2008, when the grip which Umno-Baru/BN had held since 1957 was broken. By 2015, Umno-Baru had imploded, with sackings, accusations, exposes, factions and infighting. We were euphoric.
In 2025, it appears that Anwar’s Madani administration is in danger of imploding.
Some of Anwar’s ardent supporters get very upset when he is criticised and will accuse his detractors of being consumed with “hatred” and that they have no right to project their anger towards just one man.
Hatred is too strong a word, and anger does not really apply.
Anwar’s critics don’t hate him, but they are disappointed that he has squandered several opportunities to change the country’s direction.
His critics are not angry with him, they merely pity him.
Having endured successive prime ministers who reneged on their promises. They promised many changes to improve our lives, but we found that each and every one of them, once they were elected, then failed to deliver on their promises.
Malaysians are battle-scarred and understandably weary. They’re tired. Washed out. Fed-up. They are disappointed and regrettably, they have little trust in their leaders. Confidence is at an all-time low.
They’ve been through the whole range of emotions, from being hopeful, motivated, and energised, only to find that Anwar was no better than all the other leaders who promised change.
In the end, the victim in this political posturing is democracy. Few will have faith in the democratic process. Few will want to go out and vote. Few will even care about the country because they feel that their needs and wants have been ignored yet again.
The only ‘R’ that matters
Anwar’s supporters have already started to blame his critics for any future voter apathy and the rakyat’s rejection of both Harapan and Anwar at the next general election.
They claim that constantly highlighting Anwar’s poor performance and lack of achievements will give him bad publicity.
His supporters fail to realise that Anwar is doing a good job of promoting his negative image. Anwar does not need any help looking bad.
Anwar’s admirers are rather patronising when they think that his critics are daft, to imagine that he can perform miracles. He can’t.
However, Anwar’s critics are astute enough to realise that he cannot change decades of wrongdoing by successive governments, overnight.
They are not stupid. They know he’s been placed in a terrible position but what has Anwar done to start the conversation about a more equitable Malaysian society? For example, when will the process of dismantling institutionalised racism begin?
Many ask, “When has any PM put his nation first? All were Malay but all they ever cared about were the ‘3Rs’. When will they champion the only ‘R’ that matters? The rakyat?” - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, X.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
