Saying that it is Anwar Ibrahim and not Mahathir Mohamad or Lim Kit Siang and not even the Islamists from the PAS that has weakened the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, thus the former should be the next Prime Minister is absolutely correct.
Amid criticism on the choice by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Justice Party) to elevate imprisoned former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as its Prime Ministerial candidate for the next General Elections, the party has this to say:
Anwar is the opposition leader who shook the very foundations of the ruling coalition, reducing its two thirds majority and snatching 5 states from government rule.
As goes the saying “memory is a funny thing” which is almost always translated as “Malay mudah lupa” or the Malays always forget, the Justice Party is out to defend its decision on the question of appointing a reformist PM candidate for the next general elections.
Rafizi Ramli, who has been with the party since the young age of 21, believes there is only one clear answer to this question.
“Who will become the Prime Minister if Pakatan Harapan won” Our answer is clear – he is Anwar Ibrahim.
“Current public opinion (from the perspective of political analysts, media, NGO leaders, and commentators in news portals) deride that KEADILAN is fooling themselves and KEADILAN is mad because Anwar Ibrahim is still in prison,” wrote Rafizi, who is also the MP for Pandan, Selangor.
KEADILAN here is the Malay short form for the Justice Party.
But among all the issues faced by the opposition, there is the internal strife caused by members who are on a personal and selfish agenda, and those who are in the opposition to sell information to the highest bidders.
Some of the members within the current cut of Pakatan Harapan (Coalition of Hope) launched by Anwar’s wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail after the collapse of the Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Coalition), is out undermine the reform agenda.
Among them, Zaid Ibrahim the newest ‘Muslim’ member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) – a party that has benefitted massively from Anwar’s campaign and strategic decisions since he was freed from jail in 2004.
THE ‘GRIS PARDO’
In Spanish, Gris Pardo means the mole and there is the belief among a large number of opposition supporters that a former Minister in the cabinet of Najib Razak who failed to topple Anwar Ibrahim as leader of the PKR, and who is currently a member of the DAP is one such toad.
The ‘Pakatan’ as it is popularly called has been the victim of ‘under the table spies’ – or espies (in Spanish) – who’s roles were to gather information on the party’s strategy to sniff them out to the Barisan.
Who will forget that opposition member who failed with his own party, Zaid Ibrahim, was the first to lambast the PKR for its obvious choice of PM?
Well, if the opposition cannot get rid of such elements, it will have a tough ride keeping its strategies safe from the ruling coalition, due to the number of ‘gris pardos’ who are under the table collecting vital information for sale to the highest bidder.
HIGHEST BIDDERS OUT THERE
And yes, there is also the question of who is bidding for the ‘secrets’ of the opposition parties?
Now the Pakatan has to deal with two major sources that are out to be the first to know the next move by the Pakatan: That is the Barisan and the PAS.
And Rafizi is aware of the problem, however, he can only contain the leak from his party and not from the Pakatan as a whole since he has no control over Zaid Ibrahim and his free-wheeling comments that can only hurt the opposition coalition.
But back to the issue of Anwar Ibrahim being contested as the absolute leader of the opposition coalition, it is clear there is an embarrassment among newer parties that has joined the coalition.
The Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia or Bersatu is said to have its own ideas on who should become the PM after the Pakatan takes over from the BN – if they win the elections indeed.
The Bersatu should know that it cannot just barge in and claim the PM post, hence, it should be a patient member and stay in the line to give the opposition the victory that is needed first.
Rafizi said whether the people realise it or not, many of the ideas that drew public support to Pakatan Harapan originated from Anwar’s fight against the one-party system of government under Barisan Nasional since 1998.
Calls for the government to respect the rakyat, desire for the government to be more responsible in managing the national coffers, and disgust towards the culture of corruption that enriched the ruling elite in society – all these are ideas that sparked the reformasi movement, which grew to a large scale thanks to Anwar Ibrahim and KEADILAN. said Rafizi.
And here, I state that the strength of the opposition also came from the work and the sacrifice that Anwar Ibrahim made to give the Pakatan a better chance in 2013 and they were almost there, had the grouping not been sold by leaders who are today in cohorts with Umno, and the Pakatan leaders and members knows that.
As much as they know that support for a change of government is directly correlated with the personal support of Anwar Ibrahim by most Malaysians, as Rafizi wrote.
enceforth, there is no turning back from the decision to hail Anwar Ibrahim as the next Prime Minister of Malaysia because this is what the ruling coalition fears the most!