Of Anwar Ibrahim, political speculations and conspiracies

Does it make sense for Anwar Ibrahim to abandon Pakatan Harapan when he becomes Malaysia’s 8th Prime Minister?

Of Anwar Ibrahim, political speculations and conspiracies

Post 14th General Election (GE14) has seen both the electronic and print media dabbling in political speculations and so called conspiracies.

One of the most damaging conspiracy is the claim that PKR president and PH de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim is conspiring with Umno and PAS to form a new government after he succeeds Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Malaysia’s 8th Prime Minister.

Really! Does it make any sense for Anwar to do that when he is already a prime minister?

Why must he accommodate the greedy Umno leaders and party that had turned against him in politics for more than 20 years?

Also, is the DAP that stupid and ignorant to continue supporting Anwar?

And, is PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s political career in the party numbered?

In this blog post, No News Is Bad News is not writing any analysis on all the above questions and the matter of Anwar’s commitment to PH and a New Malaysia.

We leave it to our readers to judge and form their own opinion after reading the following news clippings:

"AS UMNO & PAS TURN MALAYSIAN POLITICS INTO A SNAKES PIT, GUAN ENG RALLIES BEHIND ANWAR: ‘DAP & HARAPAN SUPPORT ANWAR BECAUSE HE REPRESENTS HARAPAN’S VISION OF NATION-BUILDING & NATIONAL UNITY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF DR MAHATHIR’

Politics | September 15, 2018
 

DAP expresses full support for the candidacy of PKR President-elect Anwar Ibrahim to return to Parliament by contesting in Port Dickson parliamentary seat, recently vacated following the resignation of Danyal Balagopal Abdullah to make way for Anwar.

Anwar’s return to Parliament is overdue when he was unjustly disqualified from his parliamentary seat in 2015, following his criminal conviction for sodomy which has been recognised as a travesty of justice, leading to a full pardon granted to Anwar by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Anwar’s contesting in Port Dickson comes at a critical juncture to reaffirm and reinforce the soul of Malaysia as democratic, respects rule of law, upholds integrity in leadership, social and economic justice, tolerant, celebrates diversity and inclusiveness.

This vision of unity embracing all races and religions as well as every geographical region contrasts with the opposition, that practices ethnic chauvinism of minority Indians and Chinese, racist dominance to the exclusion of minority groups, and religious extremism that wants to ban everything.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan will support Anwar because he will represent Harapan’s vision of nation-building and national unity under the leadership of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The opposition will contest against Anwar to promote their politics of division, ethnic chauvinism, racist dominance and religious extremism that clouds reason with blind hatred.

The opposition will play this dangerous game of fire with the nation’s future because they have no political capital to convince Malaysians that they deserve to rule the country.

‘Divisive politics’

On the one hand, BN is mired with corruption and continues their state of denial with fairy tales that disputes how billions of ringgit of government money was discovered in the hands of the now opposition leaders or that Malaysia is facing a debt predicament of more than RM1 trillion.

On the other hand, PAS seeks to cover up their failure to manage the economy by breeding hatred, lies and fear against non-Muslims which they described as kafirs.

PAS will continue to use such extremist sentiments as long as they can distract attention from the fact that Kelantan is a failed state.

In fact, Kelantan is practically bankrupt in that they are unable to pay their state government’s staff salary and had to rely on the Federal government for help.

Despite such tactics by PAS, the Federal government will still fulfil our responsibility to financially help the Kelantan government pay the salaries of its civil servants.

Under PAS, non-Muslims will not be allowed to become ministers and lose their rights.

And yet non-Muslim political parties like MCA and MIC can continue to co-operate with PAS as shown in the Seri Setia and Balakong by-election.

Voter rejection of both BN and PAS in the three recent by-elections in Selangor shows that voters decisively rejected extremism and exclusion in favour of a moderate and inclusive government.

DAP believes that voters in the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election will also give a resounding victory to Pakatan and Anwar.

DAP will direct our DAP Negeri Sembilan state committee to activate our machinery and mobilise support to ensure success for Anwar and Pakatan in Port Dickson.

LIM GUAN ENG is the finance minister and Bagan MP. He writes in his capacity as DAP secretary-general. – M’kini/Malaysia Chronicle


BOMBSHELL – ‘ZAHID MET DR M FOR MERGER WITH BERSATU, UMNO TO BE RENAMED PEKEMBAR’: BUT THE ANSWER IS NO! UMNO MEMBERS CAN APPLY TO JOIN AS INDIVIDUALS BUT NOT TOGETHER AS A PACK – DR M’S AIDE CLARIFIES RED-HOT RUMORS AFTER NAZRI’S ‘SD’ REVELATIONS

Politics | September 15, 2018

Word has been going around Umno leaders, including its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has met with Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss an Umno-Bersatu merger, claimed veteran newsman A Kadir Jasin.

“Apparently, they (Umno leaders) are no longer talking about Umno but about Pekembar…which is the short form of Umno’s Malay name.

“Word is, they want to explore the possibility of combining Pekembar with Bersatu to form Pekembar Bersatu.

“Through that, they hope to become part of the Pakatan Harapan government.

“That is the story I have heard. It makes sense. But will Bersatu, which is already part of Harapan, want or can combine with Umno/Pekembar,” Kadir wrote in his personal capacity on his blog today.

Kadir, who is also the special adviser on media affairs to the prime minister and a Bersatu supreme council member, said Bersatu is aware of Umno’s tricks, and he mused that this might be a way for Umno to split Harapan in the hopes that it would return to power.

However, Bersatu’s stand on this is clear, he said.

Umno members are welcome to join Bersatu, he said, but they must join individually as regular members, and if they want to reach leadership positions, they must do so within Bersatu’s framework.

They cannot, he said, join as a whole division or branch.

“Majority of Umno members are welcome, but of course there are some who will not be accepted because they have a bad image or because they do things that are against the law,” Kadir said.

‘Powerless Umno’

After four months of being the opposition, he said Umno finds that it cannot bear its situation as it has become too used to power and money.

“Without power and money, Umno is finding it hard to live,” he said.

Umno’s cooperation with PAS also seems to be not enough, as PAS is also without cash and power, he said.

Kadir said Umno is in this position now because former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak did not step down before the 14th general election.

“This is the way Allah saved our country Malaysia, which is by not opening Najib’s heart to stepping down and also by not giving courage to the various Umno leaders to ask (Najib) to step down.”

Now that Mahathir is the prime minister and he has met with the police, the MACC and the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), Kadir said more Najib-era Umno leaders will be brought to face justice.

“Those who are clean or have not committed too grave a crime could be accepted into Bersatu, or as a Harapan ally in Parliament and the state assemblies.

“Their entry (into Harapan) whether directly or as allies can help the Harapan government expose and overcome all sorts of scandals and damage caused by the (previous) BN government,” he said. – M’kini/Malaysia Chronicle

MAHATHIR DISTANCING FROM AZMIN CAMP? INDEED, THOSE WHO STAND IN ANWAR’S WAY MUST BEWARE, SAYS BERSATU STRATEGIST – ‘FACTS MUST NOT BE DISTORTED BY ADVERSARIAL ELEMENTS IN PKR, THOSE WHO ACCUSE ANWAR OF NEPOTISM MUST REMEMBER IT WAS HE WHO STOPPED NURUL FROM BECOMING A MINISTER’

Politics | September 15, 2018

Judging by the slew of Facebook postings from former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, each with the aim of defending his past actions though without any apparent sign of remorse, it is clear that the verdict of May 9 has finally caught up with him.

And, one might add his nefarious lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who allegedly received RM 9.5 million from Najid in becoming special prosecutor against Anwar Ibrahim.

Now, things have gone from bad to worse. It is not just the police that have collected reams of evidence on hundreds of Najib’s banking transactions, but the MACC as well.

The long arm of the law seems to be catching up on Najib, the management of 1MDB, and soon Low Taek Jhow and gang.

The book Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World by award-winning investigative reporters Bradley Hope and Tom Wright of the Wall Street Journal just confirmed what the US Department of Justice had been saying since July 2015 – when Najib and BN’s facade began to melt down.

Now we know why Najib threatened to counter sue WSJ within two weeks of their first damning article but failed. The evidence and sources collected by the two reporters would have proved insurmountable.

On May 9, the proverbial slipper dropped, and Najib was known to have called Anwar to save his skin.

To Anwar’s credit, he reminded Najib that he was “technically still in prison,” then, and the right person to refer the matter of redemption was Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

The latter must have been deeply grateful, too, as on May 10, Mahathir swiftly became the seventh prime minister of Malaysia, and had promised the world that Anwar will succeed him.

In turn, statements coming from Anwar reassured Mahathir and Malaysians that his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the current deputy prime minister, will vacate her position as well when Anwar is the prime minister.

From trickle to torrent

Be that as it may, what was a trickle has become a torrent.

Former US Ambassador John Mallot’s review of Billion Dollar Whale showcases Malaysians’ fascination 1MDB.”

More than 4,600 readers in Malaysiakini have shared it; a first for a book review. More importantly, John R Mallot is a friend of Malaysia, and an indefatigable supporter of Reformasi.

In light of the massive debt that Najib and co have bequeathed on all Malaysians – to the tune of RM34,000 each – it goes without saying that Najib, Riza Aziz, his mother Rosmah Mansor, Low Taek Jho, a motley group of princely pretenders from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates as well as Goldman Sachs, have betrayed Malaysia to the hilt.

What was supposed to be a second sovereign fund was transformed into their own piggy bank to support a debauched life in the fast lane.

Not too late to change course

“When the winds change, adjust the sails.” That has always been the first principle of navigation.

It is not not too late for those who did not trust the opposition’s account of 1MDB between 2009-2018 to look fairly and squarely at the undeniable trails of corruption that span the whole world.

If one cares to read the works of Clare Rewcastle-Brown of Sarawak Report, P Gunasegaram in KiniBiz and now Malaysiakini, Teh Yik Koon’s From BMF to 1MDB, or even my own articles, all of which have indicted Najib and co in 1MDB, it was Anwar who was one of the first lawmakers to raise the red flag on 1MDB in 2009.

Tony Pua, Rafizi Ramli, Lim Kit Siang and even auditor-general Ambrin Buang deserve due credit too.

But one thing is certain. The collective exposure of 1MDB has strengthened the belief of Mahathir that Anwar can lead a strong team to challenge the seedy elements spawned by Najib within Malaysia and without. There are now 1MDB investigations across six jurisdictions at least.

He affirmed this by saying that he would endorse the candidacy of Anwar in the upcoming Port Dickson by-election, although Mahathir is certain that Anwar can hold his own.

More importantly, Mahathir has explained, time and again, that Anwar will be his future successor to both domestic and international audiences.

He just doesn’t know the time frame yet given the gravity of the problem caused by Najib. Low and his band of criminals are still on the run, for instance.

And Anwar has replied that Mahathir need not bind himself to any time frame, as that would make him a “lame duck” prime minister anyway.

Avoiding the trap

Anwar is right. When any country plans to pull out of any delicate political solution or conflict, the insurgents will bide their time, for example.

They will attack the new regime just when the transition is about to take place, playing the role of spolier, invariably to weaken the whole process further, as witnessed in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Malaysia must not walk into this trap. Anwar has wisely counselled Mahathir not to be entrapped by what he once promised too. Both are showing signs of prudent, magnanimous statesmanship.

As things are, Malaysia has not experienced a parallel or deep state yet. But with billions in untraceable money from 1MDB and ‘mini-1MDBs’ this must be a top national security threat to an incipient or new wave of democracy like in Malaysia.

All the perpetrators involved in 1MDB and ‘mini-1MDBs’ have the personal incentive to hit back, now that they are out of power.

Nazri Abdul Aziz, the former tourism minister, has even gone so far as to claim that he will campaign for Anwar in Port Dickson. The reason?

He wants Umno to return to the fold of government. Imagine the gall and shamelessness of Umno. To them, the will of the people can be manipulated as frivolously as they want.

The speed and fluidity of such U-turns also suggests the impatience to enjoy the perks of the office, and potentially, the immunity that comes with it – after more than a decade of looking the other way when 1MDB kept imploding in the open, even when Umno was repeatedly warned about 1MDB since 2009.

Pathway to succession

While Anwar was not directly involved in the May 9 election, he was the force of inspiration, with Mahathir at the fore.

If Mahathir has agreed to honour his promise to make Anwar his future successor, the 800,000 members in PKR should select leaders that can work best with both without further delay.

To those who said that Anwar is building a “dynasty” in the Parliament, one should pause to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Wan Azizah and Nurul Izzah Anwar have all faced the scorn of the Umno press before. If they emerged unscathed, and stronger, it is the testament to their own resilience, especially when Anwar was in prison.

Now that Anwar is out, with a full royal pardon that goes back to 1998, it means the family at least is a unit that has tried to stay true to Reformasi without betraying the figurehead’s ideals.

This is a form of ‘legacy politics’, or what the late Shahnon Ahmad called Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan – a journey filled with thickets of thorns, with bruises and cuts and pains.

Those who accuse Anwar of nepotism must also remember that it was he who prevented his own daughter Nurul Izzah from being a cabinet minister.

Facts must not be distorted by adversarial elements in PKR to tar the future prime minister of Malaysia. One who has sacrificed much and magnanimously placed the greater interest of the nation above self.

I, for one, just like Mahathir, will endorse Anwar for Port Dickson, and will be there to support him in his campaign as this is indeed a pathway to the transition fulfilment that all coalition members in Pakatan Harapan have endorsed.

Both Mahathir and Anwar have shown great magnanimity in putting the greater interest of the nation before their respective selves.

This is indeed a living testimony of great statesmanship by the two. It is time for the rakyat to reciprocate.

The Port Dickson people are indeed lucky to get a prime minister-in-waiting to be their MP as this will ensure it gets the attention it deserves with regards to its holistic development.

A new dawn for Port Dickson, and a new dawn for Malaysia, as this will pave the path for the smooth transition that has been agreed by all in the coalition towards reinventing and rebuilding Malaysia for all.

RAIS HUSSIN is a supreme council member of Bersatu and heads its policy and strategy bureau. – M’kini/Malaysia Chronicle

ZAHID & NAZRI – SAVVY POLITICIANS OR DOUBLE-CROSSING, TWO-HEADED SNAKES? BY TRYING TO SEEM CLOSE TO ANWAR WITH OFFERS OF SUPPORT IN PD – WHILE ALREADY IN TALKS TO PLEAD FOR A BERSATU-UMNO MERGER, ZAHID & NAZRI SHOW HOW TREACHEROUS & UNTRUSTWORTHY IS UMNO

Politics | September 15, 2018

KUALA TERENGGANU – Umno will not take any action against Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz for stating that he will support PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the impending Port Dickson by-election.

Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Nazri was merely expressing his personal opinion and it did not reflect the party’s stance on the matter.

“What is the need (to take action against Nazri)? I always celebrate differences in opinions. Nazri was not representing Umno when he made the statement, he was only representing himself,” said Dr Ahmad Zahid at a press conference after attending the 64th PAS Muktamar (general assembly) on Saturday (Sept 15).

Nazri, who is Padang Rengas MP, had said that Umno should not contest in the Port Dickson by-election as a goodwill gesture, as it was the best way if Umno wanted to return to government.

The former minister added that he would personally campaign for Anwar, even if Umno decides to field a candidate in Port Dickson.

PKR’s Port Dickson MP Datuk Danyal Balagobal Abdullah on Wednesday (Sept 12) quit the seat to make way for Anwar to contest in the by-election for the constituency.

Meanwhile, Dr Ahmad Zahid said the relationship between Umno and PAS is formal, but further discussion is needed to make it “long-term”.

He said both parties have established a mutual understanding to work with each other as fellow opposition parties.

“The position right now is a formal collaboration. We have made an understanding with them (PAS) that we should collaborate in terms of addressing issues of common interest, such as the rights of Malays and Islam.

“To establish a long-term relationship for the 15th General Election, a working-level discussion has to be established first.

“At the moment, the collaboration is about working together as members of the opposition,” said Dr Ahmad Zahid.

He also said Barisan Nasional component parties MCA, MIC, MyPPP and PBRS “understand” the situation surrounding the collaboration between PAS and Umno.

He added that Umno has extended its invitation to PAS leaders to attend Umno’s general assembly at the end of this month.
50 ex-Umno members to campaign for Anwar

RELATED STORIES: Kadir: Word going round Umno seeking merger with Bersatu

KUALA LUMPUR – A group of 50 Umno members who have joined PKR say they will go all out to campaign for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Port Dickson parliamentary by-election.

Datin Sheha Mohd, the former Bukit Setiawangsa Puteri Umno chief, said this would be the first objective of those who had crossed over to PKR.

“It is people like us who work on the ground. We will assist the PKR election machinery in Port Dickson,” she said in an interview yesterday.

With her was husband Datuk Azril Mat Drus, the former Bukit Setiawangsa Umno branch information chief who led the crossover, citing disillusionment with Umno.

This was announced by Azril himself, who had handed over 100 new membership forms, consisting of 50 Umno members and another 50 regular Malaysians, to PKR’s Batu MP P. Prabakaran yesterday.

Azril said the group decided to join PKR due to the party’s moderate and multiracial principles, which he said was a far cry from Umno’s recent extreme views.

“There is no place for extremism in politics. We don’t want to be perceived as extremists. PKR is the way forward.

“It’s a party for everyone in Malaysia and that’s what we want to achieve,’’ Azril said. – ANN/Malaysia Chronicle

END OF THE ROAD FOR SNEAKY POLITICS – AZMIN HAS TO FIGHT RAFIZI FAIR & SQUARE, DON’T EXPECT RAFIZI TO PULL OUT FROM NO.2 RACE: PKR NEEDS NEW BLOOD IN PARTY LEADERSHIP,’ SAYS ANWAR

Politics | September 16, 2018

SINGAPORE – It is important to have ‘new blood’ of leaders joining hands together with a successor generation, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s in-waiting Prime Minister.

Anwar said this to Yang Razali Kassim, Senior Fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, “In Conversation With Anwar Ibrahim”.

This is part of an RSIS series on Malaysia’s 14th general election and its aftermath.

Yang Razali posted a scenario to Anwar, asking “When you take over as prime minister, do you see it important to have a new generation of leaders with you, the successor generation of leaders?”

In his response, Anwar said “It’s only natural. We need to have some people with experience and we have to inject new blood. We need to do that.”

“The strength that you see in PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) compared to the BN (Barisan Nasional) parties of those days, we have these young leaders entrusted with key positions in the party, in parliament, in Selangor in particular, given that experience and exposure. Not necessarily positions in government but you see in the party, in parliament, people in the 30s and 40s,” he said.

Anwar, PKR president-elect and de facto leader of the governing Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in Malaysia has recently chosen the Port Dickson seat to pave the way for his political re-entry.

On who are the young leaders who are likely to be going forward with him in the new era, without naming anyone, Anwar said : “You can pick at random.”

“Ten to 15 MPs who were competent. You have seen them debate, you have seen them work. You have seen them articulating issues,” he said.

Anwar said he was quite impressed with the core of 10-15 people to choose from.

“I am talking about the second tier of leaders, or younger. The senior leaders of course are known. So unlike in other parties, in PKR, some key positions are assigned to the younger leaders,” he said.

On whether he sees young leaders as well in the other parties,” Anwar said : “You see more in the DAP (Democratic Action Party) too. The rest are relatively newer parties.”

PH coalition is made up of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) , PKR, DAP, and Parti Amanah Negara.

On Malaysia’s National Day recently, Anwar received Yang Razali at his office near Kuala Lumpur.

The full version of his “In Conversation With Anwar Ibrahim” was released at http://www.rsis.edu.sg.

RSIS was officially inaugurated on Jan 1, 2007 with its goal is to be a leading research and graduate teaching institution in strategic and international affairs in the Asia Pacific. — Bernama/Malaysia Chronicle"

This Pakatan Harapan Suppoters Facebook account has 397,000 Likes. And there are other PH-related accounts that also have more than 250,000 Likes.

The official Facebook fan page of Anwar Ibrahim. Prisoner of Conscience has 1.7 million Likes