COMMENT | PAS’ ploy to move a vote of confidence in the old maverick is a good strategic move to demonstrate yet again that Pakatan Harapan is in complete shambles when it comes to the issue of succession, not to mention most of its policy initiates.  Of course, whether it gets to the floor for a vote is a whole separate issue. But it does make for good political theatre. 

While people may snigger and claim that Abdul Hadi Awang has been bought and paid for, the reality is that PAS has leveraged its indifference to moderation, as a means to federal power, into a powerful symbol of racial and religious unity. PAS always seems to get some sort of weird libidos thrill when it trolls Harapan especially the DAP. PAS has claimed that it is not interested in winning elections and why should they be. All this talk about windows of opportunities is because Harapan is not united in its choice of Anwar Ibrahim as the next PM.

By pushing this narrative that it does not need to win elections or that it only need God to win elections, this plays well with a growing number of disenfranchised within the Malay community and absolves them if they lose. This is not the time to dismiss PAS. Every piece in the political chessboard is important, and while PAS may not be king, it is more than just a pawn. You can bet your last ringgit that if Anwar becomes PM, PAS and the rest of the opposition will be playing the convict card and Anwar will do as he always does, attempt to polish up his bona fides by making policy discussion which does not involve “spooking the Malays”.

Which should make you wonder if Anwar has the scrotal fortitude to make those hard decisions when it comes to the policy which would not only inflame the opposition but would meet with opposition from within Harapan?

Rafizi Ramli certainly think that hard decisions have to be made, and if Dr Mahathir Mohamad is getting blowback for his idea of teaching Science and Math in English, you can bet your last ringgit that PAS will use every opportunity and attempt to force Anwar to “prove” he champions "Malay rights” and is not a stooge of the DAP. 

Lim Guan Eng may furiously wag his finger at The Star and Sin Chew Daily over their articles about the possible demise of Harapan as “fake news” but the reality is that the only thing fake about this whole sorry mess is Harapan’s commitment to reform, its political operatives commitment to a smooth transition of power and its endless propaganda of the deep state to cover up a continuing kakistocracy.

Lim claims that it is okay to be “anti-Harapan” but to cease with the fake news. This is complete horse manure. To most Harapan political operatives to be critical of Harapan is being anti-Harapan and anything which is anti-Harapan is “fake news”. We already know that the old maverick thinks that the manifesto is worthless and that nobody in Harapan is interested in policies which do not – how does Azly Rahman put it? – “… push the Malay kids further back into the kampungs.”

  I for one would be interested in seeing the reception this move by PAS receives. It would be interesting to see, exactly how many political operatives from either side supports this notion. When the old maverick claims that he would abide by the promise he made to Anwar but ultimately he (Anwar) needs to get majority support from Parliament, is exactly the kind of narrative that this vote advances. 

Didn’t Tian Chua make very similar noises when he reminded the rakyat that it was up to the presidential council to choose the next prime minister? “How we want to arrange our leadership, that is none of the rest of the country’s problem, really... “If Anwar is agreed by Harapan, he will take it (the post of PM) when Harapan is ready. It has got nothing to do with the whole public,” the PKR vice-president had said.

Rhetoric like this emboldens PAS and makes it easier for a political party like Bersatu to manoeuvre. Harapan had decided that Anwar was to assume the top job. The then opposition campaigned on this because the idea of the old maverick retaining power was anathema to the base. Hence this idea that the post of the top job was fluid and that the Harapan decision-making process was a work in progress is disingenuous. While the old maverick may claim that he has no intention of forming a new coalition and prime minister in waiting Anwar may claim that all this talk of a new coalition is nonsensical, anyone should be able to tell that neither men should be trusted. 

Both either desire or fear a new change of dynamic because both are embroiled in a tussle for leadership. Smiling pictures and feel-good talk of a smooth transition of power hide deep fissures within PKR and deep insecurity in Bersatu. For the old maverick, all this started because his attempts to dethrone Najib Abdul Razak had failed. Mukhriz Mahathir said so (in 2017) in his defamation case against Najib’s press secretary, since settled: "Mukhriz was replying to a question by Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad's lawyer, Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, on whether he agreed with his suggestion that the former premier had attempted to topple Najib from 2015. The former Kedah menteri besar agreed with the suggestion, but added that the plan likely began in 2014.“