Anwar’s walk to freedom

Joceline Tan, The Star

DATUK Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail may be the Deputy Prime Minister designate but on Thursday, as her famous husband prepared for freedom, her role as wife took over as she helped Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim put on his jacket.

It was to be an extraordinary day for Anwar as his black MPV inched its way through the media frenzy outside the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital and made its way to the palace, escorted by police cars with blue lights flashing.

He looked a bit overwhelmed as he made his way along the red carpet that the palace had rolled out for him. The palace officials had also served a lunch that included typical Kelantan dishes but he seemed too excited to eat much.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V had granted him an immediate royal pardon, something which had never happened in Malaysia’s modern history and may not ever happen again. 

The King, as Anwar related later, told him several times during the audience to cherish Dr Wan Azizah for her loyalty.

He said Sultan Muhammad had offered Dr Wan Azizah the premiership on the grounds that PKR won the most seats but she declined and only asked for the release of her husband.

Lightning does strike twice.

The last time Anwar got out of prison in 2004 was also after a new Prime Minister took office. This time, he is part of the side in power.

Back then, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was said to have been deeply unhappy that the courts had set Anwar free but now, Dr Mahathir is the one who enabled his release.

CNN’s Christian Amanpour, in an interview with Anwar, described his journey as a “Shakespearean political drama”.

The world is fascinated by the coming together of these two enemies to bring down another enemy or as Amanpour put it, the man who threw Anwar to the wolves on charges of corruption and homosexuality had now sprung him free.

Anwar himself captured it well when he told his first post-freedom press conference that he went “from prison to palace”.

Many noticed how he immediately removed his jacket, undid the top two buttons of his white shirt and rolled up his sleeves as he settled down to face the media.

It was a man-of-the-people moment that signified that Anwar is back.

“He is really, really happy,” said his former aide and Kota Anggerik assemblyman Najwan Halimi who was with him at the celebratory ceramah in Petaling Jaya.

Then, on a lighter note, Najwan said with a laugh, “Anwar is falling in love with Mahathir again.”

On a more personal note, it was special that Anwar was able to break fast at home with his family and friends on the first day of Ramadan.

His first evening at home was also reserved for some of his most loyal circle his friends and supporters especially those from the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim) which he used to be president of.

They gathered to perform terawih prayers and listen to a short talk by Anwar.

These are people who go back with him to his days as a radical activist. They have stood by him though thick and thin, through good times and bad times. These are his truest friends.

The party that he formed 20 years ago is also at the pinnacle, winning 48 parliamentary seats, the most in the Pakatan Harapan stable.

What more can a man ask for?

Well, there is the Prime Minister post that has eluded him since his days in Umno.

His party had promoted him as Malaysia’s 7th Prime Minister at their party congress last year and if things go smoothly he will be the 8th Prime Minister.

Dr Mahathir has asked for two years to rectify things. His righthand man Tun Daim Zainuddin has backed him on this, saying it would be a mistake for Anwar to take over immediately.

“Having a by-election so soon after the general election does not tell a good story. It’s better to wait, sit it out for a while more,” said former Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi.

Moreover, as Ooi noted, public opinion for Dr Mahathir has been on the rise.

“There were some reservations about Mahathir before the election but the tune has changed greatly. Among the Chinese in particular, there has been a paradigm shift,” said Ooi.

Dr Mahathir swung the election for Pakatan and it would not be good for Anwar to immediately demand that Dr Mahathir makes way. Besides, you do not want to mess around with this old lion who has just taken down a younger lion.

Anwar had deftly side-stepped questions about becoming Prime Minister, saying that he wants to see a smooth transition.

In an interview with Reuters, he said Dr Mahathir is perfect as Prime Minister.

“Mahathir has been in power for just a week, it’s not proper to talk about an immediate transition, so let him continue. He seems to be the right man for now,” he said.

In another interview, he said he does not want a post nor does he need to be part of the administration because his wife is already in the top leadership.

He also seemed remarkably free of rancour about his imprisonment and spoke in a mellowed tone about his rivals.

In fact, he suggested that his suffering had helped him to see things differently, he is now “a bit more moderate”, with a “softer image”.

“That may not be good in these times when we have to make sure that elements of the old regime do not resurface,” he admitted.

He indicated that during a discussion with the new Prime Minister, he had made it clear that the people do not want to see an “Umno 2.0” emerge in Pakatan.

Like many in his party, he is concerned about Umno politicians enticed to cross over to Pakatan in states struggling with hung assemblies.

It is evident he is also less than comfortable with the role of his former nemesis Daim in the new government. He said that Daim, who is leading the Council of Eminent Persons, can contribute but should be mindful of how people feel about “past scandals”.

But all that is rather awkward given that most of the Parti Pribumi leaders used to be with Umno.

In the meantime, Dr Mahathir passed an important hurdle and was finally able to present a partial Cabinet list to the King.

It is puzzling why someone of his experience went ahead to make those piecemeal Cabinet announcements. It was like a public admission that they could not reach a consensus on posts.

The Prime Minister is planning to pare down the Cabinet to 25 portfolios, from 31 ministries during the Barisan Nasional days.

There was criticism about him taking on the education portfolio after promising that the Prime Minister should not hold an additional post, in particular, the finance portfolio.

Although he has decided against taking it up, the opinion out there is that if anyone can revamp the education sector, that person is Dr Mahathir. He has the political conviction and worldview needed to modernise Malaysian education.

Lawyer Khaw Veon Szu said the new Prime Minister needs to focus on winning over sceptics about his real comeback intention, that it is not just about bringing down Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak but to fix mistakes he made the last time and to repair his legacy.

“He looks like a man on a mission, there is fire in his eyes. He is very much enjoying his job. But all this will take time, I don’t think he will let go so soon or so easily,” said Khaw.

That means Anwar has no choice but to wait because once again, his political future is in Dr Mahathir’s hands.

“My take is that Anwar would like to take over soon but the timing must be right. This is his golden chance, he can smell it but there is nothing much he can do for now. Mahathir has the legitimacy to stay on and he has asked for at least two years,” said a PKR insider.

Dr Mahathir, said Ooi, probably wants to redefine 2020 as he sees it.

“I have a feeling he would like to cross 2020. It’s just a couple of years away,” said Ooi.

But public attention in the next few months will be on the man whom Dr Mahathir toppled.

Najib is now on the wrong side of history. He has been vilified and prevented from leaving the country although he has yet to be charged in court.

Day after day, the public has been agog over events surrounding Najib – sensational raids on his Jalan Duta home and an apartment in downtown Kuala Lumpur which is said to belong to a “Tan Sri” and from which documents, handbags, cash and jewels have reportedly been seized by the police.

Dr Mahathir claimed that he was not informed that the police had started to go after Najib but it is obvious that the new government is throwing Najib to the court of public opinion.

Some claim that the vendetta against Najib is to distract from the problems that Dr Mahathir is facing in setting up his Cabinet.

But the thing is that he won the general election riding on that kind of public opinion about Najib and his policies. He had promised the electorate that he would throw the book at Najib and he has no choice but to feed the beast.

While the senior leaders continue to slug it out, the younger ones like Najwan want to get down to work.

Najwan, an engineer and first-timer, thought he would lose in Kota Anggerik because his opponent was a famous ulama from PAS. To his shock, he won with a majority of 17,000 votes and now feels he needs to give his all after that stunning win.

“People power put us up there. We need to start working in order to hold on to the people’s trust, we cannot go on rhetoric and promises. If people can vote out BN after 60 years, they can also vote us out after five years,” said Najwan.

But high politics will continue to dominate the landscape because as Ooi put it, the new politics is still unfolding.