Copyright Notice

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, at the address below.

Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Friday 16 October 2009

Re-sizing Anwar Ibrahim

What are Anwar's greatest nemeses? To me, they are reason and the presence of leadership.

I listened to several speeches made by Anwar Ibrahim during the Bagan Pinang by elections. They were mostly repeats of what he has said elsewhere. We realized that the speeches are no longer inflammatory. To be sure, there are comedic interludes in-between which are typical of Anwar's speeches. Buy they are slowly showing the strains of overextended renditions. They are largely uninspiring. It's very intriguing.

Why would Anwar ease up? For example, Anwar made no mention about Altantuya's case nor did he say anything much about his impending court case. I would have thought this would be a main issue in an effort to discredit Najib's leadership abilities. As to his own court cases, no one can speak of something that s already in process. It can be sub-judice. Subverting the law.

This may be a cruel thing to say. But let's not pay too much attention to Anwar now. He is becoming less relevant and the need to factor him into our political equation is decreasing day by day. The PKR is imploding. 24 of the PKR branches in Sabah are said to be toying with the idea of pulling out of PKR. Why should Azmin Ali be made the commissioner for Sabah if there is Jefry Kitingan? The answer is that Anwar does not trust Jefry. But his choice of Azmin as the ketua perhubungan (or whatever PKR calls the post) is also controversial. Azmin Ali is not a likeable personality. When Anwar was Finance Minister a long time ago, Azmin would play the role of gatekeeper- allowing certain preferred individuals free access to Anwar while denying ingress to many UMNO people. People like Nalakarupan had better access to Anwar because he was Anwar's tennis playing partner. Must keep the body supple so that the mental is agile and nimble too. Not easy to crunch numbers you know.

Anwar is not even a PKR member. He is the advisor. What is that? A general counsel or a post that can easily morphed into anything the holder desires at a moment's notice? Will it mean that Anwar's position is so loose that anyone else who's more credible can take over from him? Or is this a post that makes re-entry into UMNO more amenable? Anwar's position is very vague.

Why do we need protection from Anwar by locking him up? The greatest protection that we can have from people like Anwar is the wisdom of the people, guided by reason and the rule of law. Since the law isn't operative yet because he has not gone before the courts, our collective reason will stop him. Yes, reason, not the confrontational proclamations of UMNO PEMUDAS and other UMNO he-men wanting to out-shout the PEMUDAS.

Let us see. First, let us look at whatever Anwar is facing in perspective and with cooler heads. For the sake of brevity, assume this is true. His sexual preferences are no body's business. He will answer that to God later if he has the religious conscience. These accusations which have not been proven conclusively will taint Anwar for the rest of his life.

But I want to acknowledge that despite this yet to be proven character flaw in Anwar; it does not destroy his Islamic credentials. His knowledge about the subject and perhaps his religious practices has not suffered. He is still respected in these areas and I will hesitate to join others in discounting this strength in Anwar. The generation that grew up with him from his ABIM days through YAYASAN ANDA times can never forget his Islamic leanings. What happened behind closed doors were matters of conjectures and speculations. At least he is very much better than many of the UMNO tongongs.

Personally, I wish Anwar and this country are spared from the agony of having to go through details of the sordid sexual exploits. It is simply not part of Malaysian culture to utterly strip both Anwar and the government of human decency. Both the government and Anwar are on trial here. Anwar for his indiscretions and we as a country forfeits our human decency.

Anwar may have brought this sad state of affairs on himself when he elected to fight Dr Mahathir in the open. Dr Mahathir may have underestimated Anwar and believed that Anwar was like any other mortal who would capitulate when confronted with the facts. But Anwar chose to fight right from the every beginning.

From that day onwards, we have witnessed a fratricidal fight in this nation's politics. Yes, I say that, because, we are pitted against a brother. Never before had we witnessed a former DPM being interrogated and while in custody, physically assaulted. We ought to be ashamed at the cavalier excuse given us to explain the  appearance of black eyed Anwar on that ignominious day. The country cried on that day. It turned every fair minded citizen in this country into an overnight Mahathir hater and a resolute opponent to UMNO.

This fratricidal culture is surely very un- Malaysian. We have never seen a former DPM's residence being stormed by armed policemen who appeared ready to shoot to death anyone in their path. In my personal opinion, we cannot allow this fratricidal culture to develop further.

Maybe it's time for a national re-conciliation of sorts. If the courts cannot prove beyond reasonable doubts (meaning if they are reasons for us to doubt the authenticity of the charges- be they technical or substantive) Anwar Ibrahim should be free from persecution. In that process we free ourselves too.

Why do I feel like this? Because I think Anwar Ibrahim is becoming less relevant to this country. And this feeling is perhaps a reflection of the collective reason I detect from amongst us.

The one singular factor that has reduced much of Anwar's relevance is PM Najib Tun Razak. The most important thing PM Najib has done is to offer and provide leadership. And Anwar's relevance is inversely related to the presence of leadership. During Pak Lah's time, I am sorry to say, because of the absence of leadership on Pak Lah's part, Anwar's relevance was on the upside. As Najib slowly but surely talked and acted to provide leadership, Anwar's relevance slides back. Anwar can only thrive in the absence of leadership.

Now that leadership is emerging, Anwar Ibrahim's fortunes will be going the opposite way. He can only keep the momentum going if he has the tenacity and stomach to besmirch PM Najib in an effort to destroy the PM's leadership credibility. I suspect, Anwar hasn't got that anymore. As Najib's stature and substance as a leader expands, Anwar's relevance deflates. Or for that matter, as soon as any substantive leadership emerges, Anwar will be eclipsed.

22 comments:

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 01:41  

AK,
Are you kidding? Najib that greater than Anwar ?AN obvious spin just like that rocky feller !
Tell us what great deeds our PM has done ?He comes in with a load of baggages like being tainted with corruption on submaries deals during his tenure when in defence ministry,c-4ed lady from mongolia and loads of it!The country is still in reverse gear after so much hyped!Even US president recognised him as chief after a month in office like he was suspecious of him.Lets say he has a habit to do things in reverse!
Is the country moving forward ? You tell us ! Please dont resize Anwar as he is not Pm .You should resize Najib!

nxforget 16 October 2009 at 02:09  

Salam Dato,

Yes, its pretty clear and precise.

Few pointers:

1. Altantuya ... old issue and widely known. It's no longer a relevant factor.

2. PKR Sabah ... DSAI sure made the blunder.

3. DSAI personal tainted character ... wish this can cleared and put behind soonest possible but justice must also be seen done too.

4. Leadership ... lacking the next generation of leaders on both side of the political divide, very sad for the nation.

5. On DSN leadership ... still waiting to see success in getting the country out of the global turmoil and binding the people to his slogan of 1Malaysia.

6. Listened to DSN speech to the delegation over the radion today ... also waiting to see if UMNO people can walk the talk of DSN lengthy fiery speech.

Richard Cranium 16 October 2009 at 10:36  

My assessment is that Anwar already knew BP was a lost cause.

He does not want to be seen to be actively campaigning, and, yet lost.

All this is about managing expectations. Which, I might add, is something he does a little too well. Gives me the heebie-jeebies, if and when he becomes the PM.

And I'm an avowed DAP voter, regardless who the opponent is. Do I trust the DAP, well, heck no.

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 12:24  

The frameup charges against DSAI should be drop; it will do no one any good even for UMNO/BN. In fact, Msia will be highlighted in the world Media extensively,especially the liberal Western Media. Msia will once again be the laughing stock of the world. They will construed it as an all-out assault against the opposition figurehead.
Hope commonsense will prevail. The meeting Saiful had with Najib, the reason given for the meeting, such an important man meeting a dropout for? , etc. doesn't make SENSE to the Rakyat. Do you?

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 12:31  

In other words, Anwar is not a true leader at all...

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 12:44  

cukuplah pasal anwar dato

ramai yang tak pedulikan anwar termasuk saya

tapi lebih ramai yang nak jatuhkan UMNO

sistem dalam negara ini perlu diformat dari virus yang bernama UMNO

itu sahaja kesimpulannya

dato pun dah terkena penyakit KKS - kurang kasih sayang

benci tapi rindu nak menyebut namanya

jibam

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 15:40  

Even some artists are capable of attracting large crowds to the stage-show but that has got nothing to do with leadership value. It is just entertainment.

Same thing with political campaign masked behind the religious event. It attract large gathering because when come to religious activities, it is not the leadership quality of the presenter that attracted the crowd. It is simply the religion itself.

Pious Chinglot

syedhs 16 October 2009 at 15:43  

Well it looks like this is a die-hard UMNO supporter's blog instead of non-partisan, simple logic but complex reasonings.

Okay.. I have to say (again) I am not really at ease with Anwar (read: quite okay but there are still quite lingering issues which are needed to be clear), but if you guys can still remember the September 1997.

If Anwar indeed guilty, why were all the court hearings were so suspicious, with
1) Sukma Dermawan being trialed in less than an hour (correct me if I am wrong),
2) no prima facie cases at all
3) all those jokes About judge Paul Augustine - does anyone remember anything about it at all? During that time, he has ZERO credibility because of his 'NOT RELEVANT'.

There are many others, but I have life to catch to (lazy to write actually). Unless those are cleared, then to me it is TDM who accused falsely, and Anwar was the victim.

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 17:04  

I find it strange. If Anwar is not relevance. Why everyday, people still write article about Anwar this and Anwar that.

Donplaypuks® 16 October 2009 at 19:03  

What you are observing is the normal ebb and flow of politics.

No one seriously expected PAS to win at Bagan Pinang. So, while many read all kinds of UMNO resurgence in that victory, the reality is that Pakatan's focus is clearly elsewhere i.e. barring another by-election, on GE 2013.

And as Dr.M has discovered much to his chagrin, DSAI will not go away regardless of what charges the Govt may concoct against him. Else why are people like you still talking about him? You know in your heart of hearts that you cannot discount or dismiss him; not until he's gone to meet his maker!! You lay awake deep into the night because you fear and quake at the reformed DSAI!!

And if you think people have forgotten about the Altantuya case, think again. They know that only their votes will tell, not rhetoric, against the might of the controlled MSM and establishment.

More so with PKFZ, the TBH and Kugan cases, the suspicions over the acquisition of jets and submarines and all kinds of suspected corruption, it ain't going to be easy for the people to forget and forgive UMNO/BN so easily.

As Dr.M humself said yesterday, talk is easy and cheap. It's only walking the talk that will count!

dpp
We are all of 1 race, the Human Race

Anonymous,  16 October 2009 at 22:21  

About the sodomy allegation, 100pc agree. Think of the headlines, the wrong sort of news that's gonna put msia on the map again.

Dato, what I'm most interested in is your assessment of Umno the party after its GA. We hear talks of reforms, mesra rakyat, etc. Do you feel the members betul betul dah sedar, insaf, really want to mend their ways.
That's why I love your article before this, the kick ass one.

And now comes all this news about the PR on verge of imploding. Tau tau Umno mula lah rilek, parti lawan bercakar. Walhal, they should realise that they've still got a long way to go to convince people (like me), the fence-sitters to vote for them come GE.
Keep reminding them, Dato'. I have to differ with the Ketua Pemuda, the siege mentality is good for these people. Keep them on their toes, what?

Anak Adam (AA)

Anonymous,  17 October 2009 at 10:24  

I find it strange. If Anwar is not relevance. Why everyday, people still write article about Anwar this and Anwar that.

16 October 2009 17:04

---------------------------------------

Relevancy is not the only factor why people would keep on arguing and narrated about someone that have meaningful connection either socially or politically.

Chin Peng is no longer taking part in the political play but surprisingly there still people who keep on admiring and treated him as such he is one of their pen friend! Relevance? Or simply because of the historical value!

Pious Chinglot

Suci Dalam Debu 17 October 2009 at 10:56  

Sir,

I salute you for your conviction on UMNO. I know you will put up a good fight to defend UMNO.

My only wish is that you can distinguish correctly polished glass and diamond in the rough.

Anonymous,  17 October 2009 at 13:52  

It is apparent that you are applying sutble literary skills to apple polish the so-called leadership of Najib, with the hope that he will recognise your talents and bring you back into UMNO mainstream fold.

All the best to your politcial subtlefuge.

samsaimon,  17 October 2009 at 15:07  

Salam Dato',

It is sad, very sad indeed that you heve changed from being a very truthful person to a more 'bodek' like nuts with a hidden agenda.

I remember reading your write ups regarding the Perak Constitutionals crisis and now all regarding Bagan Pinang and this your latest!

Anwar? you are not in the same class as Anwar, far from it! We Malays were cheated by Mamak Mahathir.

As for Najib, he has leadership?
What say you about these, said by YB Tengku Razaleigh in his latest comment about UMNOs recent assembly,
" PEOPLE WANT CHANGE IN CREDIBLE LEADERS WHO ARE FREE OF CORRUPTIONS, WHO HAVE NOT DONE THINGS WHICH ARE SCORNED BY THE PUBLIC, LEADERS WHOSE RECORDS ARE BLEMISHED"

Any chance you'll be sellected for ADUN again?

Anonymous,  18 October 2009 at 00:09  

PM might be talking about change but the actions of UMNO/BN goes in the opposite direction.

Its easy to Talk the talk but rakyat will judge a person when he walks the talk.

Anonymous,  18 October 2009 at 13:26  

Sunderland after a string of heavy losses beat Liverpool last night.
When interviewed by the press he attributed the success to a few factors i.e

1>>Adoption of KPIs for all ground staff,back room staff and the canteen lady.
2>>Acceptance of the 1Sunderland sloganeering by the fans
3>>A renewed belief; after rigorous analysis by consultants that Sunderland will win the Championship

Meanwhile,the Sunderland players when interviewed refused to comment on the game itself but was hinting at possible request for increased salaries,bonuses and higher percentage of endorsement fees.

Matthew Ngai,  18 October 2009 at 14:49  

Anonymous 1,

Najib is by all legal means in our country, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. It is only in the court of public opinion that he is not.

The point that AK wanted to point out is that Anwar has not taken the effort to expand his leadership credibility. Although not many agree with Najib's policies, at least he is seen as doing something and taking the initiative to provide the kind of leadership so badly needed in times of crisis, like now.

Anwar's silence is not only deafening, he did not appear to be fighting to provide leadership in this country. The most glaring example is the cow-head incident, where he did not even come out to make a stand as to whether he condemns or supports the march. As the opposition leader, the least you can do is to stand out and make a stand when such issues arise. But no, nothing.

In addition, the opposition, this 'people's revolution' is bigger than one man. Just because Anwar was the one who provided the glue for all the opposition parties does not mean he must be the one to lead them once the opposition form the next federal government. Such mentality bears no difference to that of the current ruling government, the government that so many people abhor.

By the way, can you at least have the decency to leave your name? It is not as difficult as you thought.

Yap 18 October 2009 at 20:19  

Atleast Anwar is giving us an alternative to a corrupted BN/umno government. Don't ride him off yet, unless umno can come out clean and fair. I do not see this will happen. The more umno talk the more corrupted they are. It is just eye wash in public.

The raayat are not stupid and the next GE will prove a point.

How far can Najib go in cleaning up corruption, Judiciary, Police, MACC and BN esp umno politicians swindling the raayat everyday???

Ketuanan Raayat is the way to go???

Anonymous,  19 October 2009 at 00:41  

Pundek 18 October 2009 20:19, said,

"Ketuanan Raayat is the way to go"??

How far can PR go in cleaning up corruption, take beer, immorality and swindlers when their politicians swindling the raayat everyday???

Hmmm, cakap tak serupa bikin.

APOLITIKAL

Anonymous,  19 October 2009 at 01:01  

Mathew Ngok said,

"In addition, the opposition, this 'people's revolution' is bigger than one man. Just because Anwar was the one who provided the glue for all the opposition parties does not mean he must be the one to lead them once the opposition form the next federal government. Such mentality bears no difference to that of the current ruling government, the government that so many people abhor."

------------------------------------

Are you sure that the "reformasi" group don't have that kind of mentality -- Anwar don't have to be the leader if in future PR happens to make its way to Putrajaya?

Who the hell in the world would have voluntarily refused to become the leader if they are in the position of Anwar, Hadi and LKS? Talking with your pea-sized brain huh?

Ha, ha, you must be one of the pious supporter of the "sekularisme totok" gang-bang. No?

Antihipokrit

Unknown 19 October 2009 at 04:49  

Whoever think Anwar is now irrelevant must have under-estimated him. As far as leadership is concerned, a credible and dynamic leader does not need to make his presence felt all the time. Screaming and attacking the opponents more too often will not picture a leader's credentials and popularity. It will in fact dilute his credibility and stature as a leader. It likens listening to a singer too often will make one feels stale. To win a war is to strike the enemies when they least expected.
A mighty leader does not always do the frontline work but must be a good manager in manipulating his supportings to work his cause. This is the primary quality of an effective leader. In my opinion of Anwar, the battle has only just begun and the war is far from over until victory is attained. Do not write him off just yet.

  © Blogger templates Newspaper III by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP