Zahid and Najib walked into Anwar’s trap
Anwar set a trap for Najib, Zahid and all those desperate Umno leaders and they walked into it. Of course, Anwar’s vote of no confidence against Muhyiddin with the support of Umno is not going to happen. But that was never the real intention in the first place. The real intention was to split Umno and to break up Perikatan Nasional so that Pakatan Harapan has a better chance of winning GE15. And that succeeded.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
There was only one reason why Anwar Ibrahim rejected Ustaz Fadzil Muhammad Noor’s invitation to join PAS in 1981 — and instead Anwar begged Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to accept him into Umno. (Ustaz Fadzil wanted Anwar to become the PAS President once Asri Muda retires, which he did in 1982).
And that reason was because Anwar did not see himself becoming prime minister as the PAS President. To become prime minister, he would need to first become the Umno President. (In fact, until today, Umno believes that only the Umno President should become the prime minister, which is why they reject Muhyiddin Yassin).
Anyway, at the behest of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Mahathir reluctantly accepted Anwar into Umno, knowing he was allowing a viper into his bed.
It was no secret that Anwar’s ambition since he joined Umno in 1982 was to become the prime minister. It was merely a matter of when that would happen. Since the early days, Anwar’s ABIM boys in Umno had been going around telling everyone that Anwar was the prime minister-in-waiting.
‘Formula kemenangan boleh dicapai menerusi perpecahan dalam PN’ – Guan Eng
In 1991, Anwar was appointed the Finance Minister and he started his march to Seri Perdana. In 1993, he ousted Tun Ghafar Baba and took over as the Deputy Prime Minister (cum Finance Minister). There was no longer any stopping Anwar from taking over as Malaysia’s Fifth Prime Minister.
But three years on and Mahathir did not give any hint he was going to retire and hand over to Anwar. It looked like if Anwar wanted Mahathir to go, then he would need to be pushed out.
In May 1997, Mahathir took two months leave and Anwar was made the Acting Prime Minister. According to Mahathir’s people, the old man wanted to test Anwar and see what he would do. And he did what Mahathir suspected he would do — meaning make all the wrong moves.
In July, Mahathir returned and took back power (that was at the same time when the Asian Financial Crisis hit). Anwar tried to use the Asian Financial Crisis, with the backing of the IMF, to push Mahathir out. Mahathir fought back and by August 1998 Anwar was history.
It was a 16-year journey that was supposed to place Anwar in Seri Perdana. But Anwar’s impatience resulted in him ending up in jail instead. Anwar revealed he would be very dangerous to Mahathir, his family, and his friends, if he ever became prime minister. Hence, at all cost, Anwar must never be allowed to become prime minister.
Okay, fast-forward to 2020, 22 years later, and let us see what new plot and scheme Anwar is hatching.
Anwar knows His Majesty the Agong will never sack Muhyiddin but that was not the real plan
Anwar never learned from his 1997 mistake. Anwar was impatient to take over as prime minister and that cost him the job and his freedom. He wanted Mahathir out then and there instead of waiting till 2000 to take over, the date Mahathir would have retired and handed over to him.
In 2020, Anwar did it again. Mahathir was supposed to retire in May 2020 and Anwar would be able to take over then. But Anwar tried pushing Mahathir out three months earlier, and the Pakatan Harapan government fell and Muhyiddin Yassin became prime minister instead.
Anwar realises there would be no third chance if he does not come out with some sort of plan. The only way Anwar would be able to take over as prime minister would be through a general election. Other than that, he would not have enough majority to get sworn in as prime minister.
But Pakatan Harapan will never be able to win GE15 the way it won GE14. And the reason is: GE15 will not have the Mahathir factor like GE14 did. It was not Anwar or Pakatan Harapan who won GE14. It was Mahathir.
And an even bigger factor would be the Perikatan Nasional coalition of Umno, Bersatu and PAS, which monopolises the Malay-majority seats.
The 2008 and 2013 general elections have proven that even with 100% non-Malay votes, Pakatan Harapan cannot win. Only when the Malays are divided, like in the 2018 general election, can Pakatan Harapan win.
Hence Perikatan Nasional is going to be a major obstacle to Pakatan Harapan.
Zahid and Najib walked into Anwar’s trap
Anwar knows that Umno is not too happy playing second fiddle to PPBM. They are also not happy that PPBM and not Umno is the prime minister (which Umno considers their God-given right). And, more importantly, Umno is not happy that the court cases against Najib Tun Razak, Rosmah Mansor, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and a number of other Umno leaders, are proceeding and are not being dropped.
So, Anwar capitalised on this and exploited Umno’s and its leaders’ unhappiness. He promised them what they wanted but could not get from Muhyiddin or PPBM. And he told them, in return, all he wanted was their support to oust Muhyiddin and PPBM.
Anwar knew it would not happen. He was never going to be able to get enough numbers to pass a vote of no confidence against Muhyiddin, or to get His Majesty the Agong to sack Muhyiddin and appoint him as the new prime minister. It was merely sabre-rattling to create as much noise as possible.
Anwar’s aim was not to oust Muhyiddin or to topple the government through a vote of no confidence or through the Palace. Anwar’s aim was to break up Perikatan Nasional and to split Umno.
Anwar was not going to become prime minister through the support of Umno’s “Court Cluster”. Anwar was going to become prime minister through GE15 — but only if in GE15 Perikatan Nasional and Umno are engaged in a civil war.
Anwar wanted Najib, Zahid and all those anti-Muhyiddin/anti-PPBM Umno leaders to split Umno and to break up Perikatan Nasional. So, he made his deal with them and promised them the moon and the stars to entice them. And this worked.
Anwar’s real objective was to split Umno and to break up Perikatan Nasional to improve Pakatan Harapan’s chances in GE15
Anwar knew the letter signed by Najib and Zahid supporting him as the new prime minister was not going to make him prime minister. Just based on that letter alone the Agong was not going to sack Muhyiddin. But that letter to the Agong signed by Najib and Zahid was going to split Umno. That is what Anwar really wanted.
So, now, Umno is in a mess. Perikatan Nasional is also in a mess. And the chances of GE15 being a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan (comprising DAP, PKR and Amanah) and Perikatan Nasional (comprising Umno, PPBM and PAS) is slim. That is not going to happen anymore. And that would mean Pakatan Harapan’s chances of winning GE15 have improved greatly since March 2020.
Anwar set a trap for Najib, Zahid and all those desperate Umno leaders and they walked into it. Of course, Anwar’s vote of no confidence against Muhyiddin with the support of Umno is not going to happen. But that was never the real intention in the first place. The real intention was to split Umno and to break up Perikatan Nasional so that Pakatan Harapan has a better chance of winning GE15. And that succeeded.
