Anwar's political rites of passage

QUESTION TIME | I am puzzled by the storm of opposition towards de facto Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim becoming an MP by contesting in a by-election which was forced by a resignation.

How else is he supposed to take over from interim Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad two years from the election, as agreed to and announced by all members of Harapan, including Mahathir?

If Anwar is going to be prime minister in the agreed time frame, he will ascend to the position in May 2020, some 19 months from now. If it is going to be smooth succession, with Anwar understanding all the moves that have been made since the change in government, then he should be in government already.

Is he being impatient? Certainly not. Soon, it will be five months since the 14th general election. He has waited and he has watched. It is time for him to become an MP, so that he can participate in Parliament.

And he needs to be in the cabinet too. Sure, one can argue about who should have stepped down to enable his rise, but he needed to become MP as soon as possible.

As Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, has said repeatedly, she does not intend to remain a politician once Anwar enters the arena. Thus, it is only right and logical that she makes way in the cabinet for Anwar to become the new deputy.

Wan Azizah will, in all likelihood, also step down from her Pandan seat to make way for another PKR leader to come forward.

There is no reason why Mahathir should object to such a move. Remember that although Mahathir chairs Harapan, Anwar is the designated de facto leader, and thus higher than Mahathir in the coalition’s hierarchy.

This was something Mahathir agreed to in the accord worked out between the various parties – that he would be interim prime minister until Anwar was ready to take over.

The whole point of that exercise was to ensure that they joined forces to oust a kleptocratic prime minister and government, which they have succeeded in doing.

It is time

Now, Anwar has been fully pardoned, can stand for a parliamentary seat, hold a position in government, including that of deputy prime minister, and can become prime minister without any legal impediment whatsoever. It is time.

And when he does, that will mean the process of reform will take a step forward. Those of us who are old enough know what Mahathir is about. While in some areas he has shown refreshing change, he is rather stubborn about others and clings to old ways of doing things, and getting old people – some of whom espoused dubious values in the past – to do these things.

Mahathir’s character will mean that the full range of reforms envisaged in the Harapan manifesto will not be implemented during his time as prime minister, simply because he does not agree with many parts of the manifesto, and has publicly declared so.

One example is the rather draconian Official Secrets Act 1972. This was amended during Mahathir’s previous tenure as prime minister to provide a mandatory jail sentence for whistleblowers. Mahathir says now he has no intention of getting rid of it. Another example is to go ahead with Proton 2.0, despite considerable public opposition.

If he has his two years as prime minister now, Mahathir would have had 24 years at the helm, more than enough time for any individual. It is time he peaceably hands over the reins to Anwar, who needs more time to make the changes he envisions for the country – time which was cruelly shortened by Mahathir’s own actions.

After all, Mahathir does not enjoy the kind of support he had during his earlier stay when Umno could rule on its own. Now, his party Bersatu has just 13 seats in Parliament despite contesting 52, less than six percent of the total 222 seats, and about a quarter of PKR’s 50 (if one includes Port Dickson).

A shot in the hot seat

To prejudge that Anwar will be a lousy prime minister is terribly unfair, especially since Harapan won on the basis of Mahathir only being the interim prime minister. Anwar deserves his chance at premiership.

If Anwar is a good prime minister, he could carry on, otherwise one hopes that political maturity has advanced to such a level in Malaysia that a bad prime minister can be removed either through the electoral process or even the party moving against him.

The latter kind of check and balance – which is sadly lacking even within Harapan, where it is still unthinkable that anyone move against dictatorial party leaders – is bad for the country, as dissension within the party cannot be raised and discussed publicly.

A democratic electoral process within parties is just as important for a properly functioning democracy and party members should reject those who become too autocratic. It is one thing maintaining unity within the party, and another thing altogether to rule with an iron fist using party unity as an excuse.

On the final point of who should have made way for Anwar. At this time when there is a strong, concerted move to stop Anwar from succeeding Mahathir – even if the prime minister himself is in agreement – it will be foolhardy and not politically astute for Wan Azizah to step down and leave a power vacuum in the interim.

That leaves Anwar’s daughter, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah, but she has been a long-time activist within PKR and a strong leader in her own right. The logical way to go will be to ask a relatively junior member of the party to step down or to volunteer to step down.

The country has suffered from too much uncertainty and anguish over whether and when Anwar will succeed Mahathir, partly due to the latter’s own coyness and ambiguity about the date – frequently making vague statements, despite agreeing to the two-year time frame.

Mahathir, for the sake of the nation, should just remove this uncertainty in one stroke by announcing when Anwar will succeed him after both of them have agreed upon it.

In a show of joint solidarity, both of them should be there at the announcement, accompanied by all Harapan leaders. Remember, even when Mahathir announced his departure as Umno president in 2003, he gave a date for his successor to take over.

Among other things, Mahathir as interim prime minister and Anwar as prime minister was what the Malaysian public voted for. That must be formalised once and for all by announcing the date of the succession.

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P GUNASEGARAM says that agreements are made to be kept, not broken. Email: t.p.guna@gmail.com. - Mkini

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