Mahathir-Anwar axis – Part I

A Mahathir – Anwar political tie-up can cause trouble to Umno – BN in GE14.

(Malaysia Outlook) – There is the palpable fear in the establishment that the pairing up of Mahathir Mohammad and Anwar Ibrahim will result in a frontal assault of the government.

That it was enough to challenge the hold of the government on the Malay heartland, which constitutes some 119 rural constituencies as Umno Youth national leader and Minister of Sports and Youth Khairy Jamaluddin put it: “We have to watch the duo’s relationship closely.”

But the duo may not have the bite to go with the bark, period.

First and foremost, like all political marriages, it is based on sheer convergence of interest; which makes it strong but concurrently brittle.

Both figures, without the shadow of the doubt, do want to unseat the present Prime Minister; ideally, Umno, its coalition partners and potentially PAS too.

Given the size of the collective ambitions, that ranges from replacing the current PM to removing the entire structures of government, the duo can “agree to disagree” (which can be strength for now).

But the two cannot agree on a two cornered fights against the government, where Dr Mahathir Mohammad, as the previous superior to Anwar Ibrahim, still expects to have the final say.

Secondly, given the width and breadth of the issues, the duo obviously can relate, once again, on anything verging on the grandiose.

Thus, their supporters can scream ‘Reformasi’, ‘Undur Najib’ or ‘Selamatkan Malaysia’.

This can create a sense of immediate purpose.

Ostensibly, the duo won’t run out of (generic) commonalities on the reform agenda too.

As Malays have it “Banyak yang boleh sembang”.

But when talks even cascade into ‘Citizens’ Declaration’, what is the ultimate strategy on the Malay rural heartland, Sabah and Sarawak where opposition has yet to make a dent?

Three, largely because of their symbolic reconciliation, their party troopers on the ground may even feel a shot in their arms that this was the ultimate stake that would drive through the heart of the government once and for all.

As Lim Kit Siang puts it” “A key part of winning the general election rests with the magic of the campaign.”

Not surprisingly, Lim Kit Siang is often short on details, but long on broad criticisms.

This is because he is always in the campaign mode, and never actually held any public office before; allowing Lim Guan Eng, his son, to be the chief minister of Penang instead, which is now mired in its own controversy too over tainted land sale.

In other words, beyond Anwar and Dr Mahathir, there is no policy experience in the opposition front.

Fourth, to the degree, Azmin Ali, the chief minister of Selangor, is capable of governing the state, the style and modus operandi of government appears no different from what he had previously learned in Umno.

Hence, billboards of him are everywhere, yet Azmin’s tenure is weak on social economic deliverables.

Again, not surprisingly, Azmin described the handshake between Anwar and Dr Mahathir as the first salvo of the 14th General Election (GE14).

Not unlike Kit Siang, Azmin has been habituated into governing by winning elections; not winning elections to govern well.

Fifth, Dr Mahathir and Anwar’s many weaknesses will become more apparent as the days go by.

To begin with, the opposition front, for the lack of a better word, is still a hodgepodge of ideological misfits.

Despite its namesake as Pakatan Harapan, the opposition is often high on hopes (harapan) but devoid of internal cohesion (pakatan).

Neither Anwar nor Dr Mahathir can overcome this structural anomaly, which has rendered Pakatan Harapan into a queer oxymoron: it is built on hopes but shorn of ideological and internal unity at all … to be continued in Part II …