I made a promise to hand over and I will, accepting that I thought that a change immediately before the APEC summit would be disruptive.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, sixth Prime Minister
Sometime in May Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was quoted in a Bloomberg report as saying he expected to take power from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in less than two years.
But in the last few days things did not look right for the prime minister-in-waiting.
What should have helped to tighten his claims on the premiership looks to have done the opposite.
While the 14th National PKR Congress (PKR ke-20), the party he leads, may have reaffirmed his party position, what transpired during the convention seems to have reduced his succession chances.
His differences with his deputy Datuk Seri Azmin Ali appear to be coming to a head. He failed to reign in his supporters and the congress became an Azmin-bashing session with scant attention paid to the party’s stand on national policies.
Malaysians in general, and political observers in particular, were hoping to hear Anwar and PKR addressing issues like the alleged existence of a deep state within the government, LTTE, the apparent re-emergence of the spirit of communism, and what he wants to do for Malaysia and Malaysians if he is prime minister.
Quite by coincidence, two other political parties ― Amanah and Umno ― also held their annuals over the weekend. Many were quick to point out how tiny Amanah (with just 11 MPs compared to Pakatan Harapan’s biggest component PKR with 50 MPs) made clear its future direction.
Even opposition Umno projected a united front, coming out of its general assembly. Its Muafakat Nasional rang loud and clear with the message that “Umno must not be seen to be the champion of the Malays and Islam but also other races (that) if we want to be seen as the party that struggles for nationalism as a sincere and honest country, we want to see Muafakat Nasional as an inclusive agenda for all races”.
So when will Dr Mahathir hand over the premiership to Anwar? Or rather, will he, at all?
At this very moment, it is really hard to see Dr Mahathir thinking of letting go; it is even harder to imagine Anwar having the luxury of imagining himself as the prime minister of Malaysia.
If he still has his sanity with him ― and there is no reason to believe otherwise ― he should be seriously looking to counter the allegations made against him by his one-time research assistant Muhammed Yusoff Rawther instead of relishing his premiership pipe dream.
On Monday Muhammed spent eight hours with the Bukit Aman police. Yesterday he was called in again, and this along with Anwar’s quarrel with Azmin, is going to give the prime minister-in-waiting nightmares.
Anwar denied Muhammed’s statutory declaration accusing him of trying to outrage his modesty, called it baseless and politically motivated, and instructed his lawyer to take legal action.
What this means is Anwar will have very little time for other things ― including stacking his claims on the premiership ― because he will soon be going in and out of court too often for his liking.
It goes without saying this is not what the Anwar loyalists want.
A PH insider, for example, was reported as saying the transition should not be later than 2020 as Malaysians need to move forward with a clear vision and a stable political leadership.
He said, “The right time would be in the second half of 2019, not to wait until 2020. If possible, before the tabling of the 2020 Budget so that Anwar could use it as his first mark of policy direction”.
Well, the 2020 Budget had been passed; nothing happened.
Not awhile back they were saying there was “no real contender to Anwar has emerged of late”.
Subang MP Wong Chen was reported as saying, “Anwar is still in the driving seat to succeed Tun Mahathir. I am certain that the people will never accept any alternative PM candidate who is without substance or ability to lead the coalition”.
Amir Fareed Rahim, an analyst at political risk consultancy KRA Group, said it is up to the two leaders to mutually decide on when the succession plan should materialise.
But all those were before the PKR congress fiasco and Mohammed’s statutory declaration and his Bukit Aman appointments.
Under the present situation, does Dr Mahathir have any choice other than delaying the transition of power? Or, if he does relinquish his position, is it so wrong if his successor is anybody else other than Anwar?
He may be 94, and in that sense time is not on his side.
But time is the least of his concern because now it is really up to him. He and he alone call the shot.
When all has been said, what seems to be is that Dr Mahathir is not under any pressure to decide when he should let go or who he should hand the baton to.
The problem with a lot of people is they think there is no teaching an old dog a new trick.
They forget, however, that Dr Mahathir is not your usual politician but one that has been keeping a library of tricks.
The old man’s final trick, which is the closing act, will come in due time.
