by Iskandar
Dzulkarnain, Wong Choon Me
There is a penchant for controversies in this country. Every
little thing can be blown out of proportion. Every little statement, every
little misplaced word can be used against you, especially if you are with the
Opposition.
It only needs the mainstream media or MSM to publicize it, and
everyone goes into a frenzy, debating it.
Lately, PAS leader Mat Sabu’s speech in Penang has caused a
commotion in the country. At least 49 police reports were made and BN leaders
rose in unison to condemn his speech. The police now want to question him and
the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin has urged him to 'repent' and 'stop
telling lies'. But despite the drama, give it another month, and nobody will
recall anymore what Mat Sabu allegedly said.
The same with the ‘Allah’ issue, the Malay Bibles issue and
the Christian prime minister row. All these came with a bang and went with a
whimper.
All-out
efforts to scald Anwar
Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's purported
involvement with a sex video was much juicier. The Datuk T sex video set more
tongues wagging than all the other incidents combined. The trio were finally
charged, although let off with a slap on the wrist.
Yet till today, the government is still trying to insinuate
Anwar was guilty, although to the public, it appears to be another botched
effort to tar the Opposition Leader. Hardly anyone talks about the sex video
anymore except to shake their heads and condemn the corrupt UMNO culture
accused of spawning it.
Then, the chilling expose’ by former US Ambassador to
Malaysia John Malott confirmed the suspicions held by most Malaysians.
Malott told of a plot to politically kill Anwar, and how
Prime Minister Najib Razak's close aide Razak Baginda had leaked to a senior
Embassy officer, “The decision has been made. They are going to “nuke Anwar
until he can never stand up again politically.”
A senior officer in the Special Branch separately also told
US officials, “We are going to keep filing charge after charge after Anwar so
he will be in jail for the next 100 years.”
Still
head and shoulders above his rivals
Yet today, Anwar is still standing.
He may be worse for wear and tied up with the second-round
sodomy charges pressed by Najib's government, allegedly to keep him from making
a political comeback to challenge them. But make no mistake, the
64-year-old Anwar is now resurgent, while his 58-year-old arch enemy and
betrayer, Najib Razak, has been slipping. The latest opinion poll shocked
everyone when it reported Najib's popularity had plunged 6 percentage points to
59 percent over a mere three-month period.
This is the game called credibility, a rise-and-fall
rollercoaster that only the hardiest can survive. It is also something that
UMNO and all new politicians should learn. And there are no better lessons than
from the Anwar versus Najib and Anwar versus Mahathir sagas of 2008 and 1998.
True credbility will outlast all controversies, real or
stirred. And no amount of expensive public relations can correct false
credibility.
Despite having the upperhand and all the power that comes
with office, Najib failed and is on the point of being removed from the UMNO
presidency by his own party mates including Muhyiddin. Why? Because Najib has
failed to perform his tasks well and worse still, he frequently reneged on his
promises to the people - from the New Economic Model to the Teoh Beng Hock
deathfall and the latest Bersih 2.0 rally.
Whereas Anwar, despite the typhoons and hurricanes wrought by
Sodomy II and the Datuk T sex video, has stood firm on his stated policies. He
has shown the right decorum, dignity, enormous courage and stupendous fighting
spirit. It is little wonder that despite facing jail even though the sodomy
charges may be manifestly trumped-up, Anwar is now within striking distance of
becoming the next Prime Minister of Malaysia after GE-13.
Next
PM, a real possibility
There is little doubt that Anwar's fame continues to
grow. Support for him from overseas, always strong, is growing stronger and it
is not only from the West but also the East. It is easy to associate Anwar with
the Arab Spring citizen rebellions against despotic regimes like the
newly-fallen Gaddaffi in Libya, Mubarak in Egypt and Ben Ali in Tunisia, which
in turn can be equated to the UMNO-BN leadership.
And this is another reason why Najib and UMNO are so afraid
of his charisma that despite knowing there may be a huge voter backlash from
jailing him, they feel desperate enough to want to lock him up and throw away
the key. Once the darling of the Malay community, it won't be difficult for
Anwar to swing the Malays back to his fold and they are already looking at him
for leadership, despite the daily attacks by the MSM.
Make no mistake, a conviction in the Sodomy II trial will
complete Anwar's detour from the top rungs of power. A jail sentence will make
him an even greater hero to the people and may spark the popular uprising that
UMNO fears the most, in particular his nemesis Mahathir Mohamad and current
closest rival for the PM's post, Muhyiddin Yassin.
Anwar-phobia in UMNO
Meanwhile, within UMNO, Anwar-phobia continues to grow at an
alarming rate. Those afflicted are panicked, even running wild, and can hardly
wait to bury him one way or another. His presence continues to give them
sleepless nights.
This is also why Anwar must now take especial care of his
safety. When it becomes more obvious that loss in GE-13 is inevitable, UMNO
knives will come whizzing for Anwar. Already, he and his family have been the
target of death threats. The most recent and shocking one took place on July 9,
where a visibly shaken Anwar was directly fired at by police officers with tear
gas canisters during the Bersih rally.
UMNO's Anwar-phobia peaked ahead of the 2008 Permatang Pauh
by-election, which Anwar won despite the federal government suddenly cutting
petrol prices, ordering ACA raids on the Perak Pakatan government, and the
emergence of the Sodomy II accusations.
From being a visiting professor, Anwar had decided to turn
into a full-time Opposition Leader. And this is why he also suddenly became
public enemy No 1. When he tried to engineer a quick takeover of the federal
government with the September 16 defections and failed, that gave UMNO the
opportunity to strike at him even harder.
Desperate
times and keeping safe
Now, a flailing Najib is trying all ways and means to
bluster his way through. But really, his first line of defense should be
against his own comrades in UMNO rather than Anwar.
Be that as it may, Najib reckons that if he can snuff out
Anwar's influence, he may just be able to regain favour with the UMNO warlords
and trump his own deputy Muhyiddin at the 11th hour.
Perhaps, this is why of all places, Najib chose Permatang
Pauh as the venue for his PM's 1Malaysia Aidilfitri open house celebration.
Surely, there cannot be a more classic case of Anwar-phobia than this, despite
Information minister Rais Yatim insisting there was no 'ulterior' motive.
As for Anwar, it cannot be said often enough that he really
needs to make sure he and his family are physically safe. Desperate times are
around the corner for Malaysia.
Source : MC
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