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.