Do not for one minute believe those protestations from Pakatan Harapan political operatives that they did not know what was going on if the manure hits the fan.

It is like Captain Renault in ‘Casablanca’ going, “I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here” - while a croupier hands him a pile of money. This is establishment politics after all.

All these appointments Zahid is making to strategic posts within and outside the government, all those moves sanctioned by Harapan may seem like a fait accompli, but look closer and all these positions in some way are connected to not only the mid-level echelons of the bureaucracy (which have vast influence) but which also service grassroots level proxies in various states.

These are signals not only picked up by those in the bureaucracy who could aid Anwar and Zahid but also picked up on by Perikatan Nasional, which is why there are going ape manure. They understand the system is being manipulated and they want to be the ones doing the manipulating.

What did former US president Barack Obama say - “I learned to respect the nuts and bolts of politics, the attention to detail required, the daily grind that might prove the difference between winning and losing. It confirmed, too, what I already knew about myself: that whatever preferences I had for fair play, I didn’t like to lose.”

And let us not forget the royal institution. PN has made it very clear what they think of this sacred cow of Malay politics.

Everyone from former prime minister Muhyddin Yassin to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has thumbed their nose at the institution and the royals understand that with PN at the helm, the delicate ecosystem of patronage and supremacy would be subverted. That is the thing with a theocracy, the clerics are in charge.

They need each other

The relationship between Anwar and Zahid goes way back. It is pointless rehashing all the political rumours and matters of public record which illustrate the kind of alliance these two men had.

Suffice it to say, both understand that at this point in their political careers, they both need each other to remain relevant but also to present divergent interests because it satisfies different voting blocs.

Zahid as a DPM gambit only pays off if he can maintain control of Umno, and more importantly, supports the initiatives to correct the electoral imbalances that favour religious extremism in this country. So far, I have seen very little talk about this from Harapan but plenty of it, mostly fear-mongering from PN.

The credibility of the government is not an issue because credibility was never a vote-getter in this compromised electoral system.

Maybe when BN was getting the lion’s share of the vote, one could make the argument that the government of the day was credible in the sense of vote share but since everything is based on the ketuanan system, credibility as some sort of political qualifier is overrated.

The best Malaysians who do not want a theocratic state can hope for is that by dismantling certain foundational elements of the Malay establishment, like monopolies and institutional fiefdoms, Harapan, perhaps for self-serving reasons, is keeping the theocratic state at bay.

And yes, if through corruption charges, certain personalities are brought down by their decades-long pecuniary malfeasances, so much the better. You can’t make the argument that this is vengeance politics merely because your hand is cut off from the public cookie jar.

Indeed, going after monopolies and if Anwar is serious about this, is perhaps the area where Zahid and Anwar may clash. This is all part of the feudalistic mindset that Umno created over the years and the reason some folks, certainly in PN, are getting flustered.

PN wanted to inherit the system and Zahid may encounter resistance from Umno personalities and their proxies who are dependent on this system. It remains to be seen how serious Anwar is in carrying out this part of his agenda.

And this is exactly why the old maverick is also flustered. He does not have the power to protect his factotums like he used to.

As always, the enemy is not only outside but also within. Can the federal government curtail the agenda of the deep Islamic state which is making very public moves now, or will the government enable them?

The big question is, will the Anwar and Zahid show forestall a theocratic takeover or would it pave the way to one?