BOMBSHELL - A NEW BEGINNING FOR MALAYSIA THAT MAY NOT BE BETTER - AS PAS GOES FULL CIRCLE TO LEAVE THE OPPOSITION FOR GOOD - AND THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR ANWAR & DAP - AFTER SHOWING THEY'RE ACTUALLY NO BETTER BUT PERHAPS JUST AS CLUELESS & BULLYING AS THE ISMAIL SABRI & MUHYIDDIN REGIMES
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Pas says it again. They together with PN coalitiom will "soon get the opportunity to lead the federal government" - again. But who then will be the prime minister?
Will Pas and PN's comeback to power be with Bersatu on board? Is a deal being struck with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim? Or will the much-talked about ouster of Anwar's Pakatan Harapan allies such as DAP take place to pave the way for the non-Muslim-phobic Pas to enter the ruling alliance? Will Pas - now burgeoning with Malay 'heroes' of its own - even agree to let Anwar stay on as PM?
"The permutations and combinations are too numerous to guess for now because there are still too many 'unspokens', too many intangibles," a political commentator told Politics Now!
"But it does look like something major is brewing. Whether it is a full-blown change in government or changes in the ruling parties, whether either can even succeed remains to be seen but perhaps at the worst, an MoU between the government and certain parties in the Opposition is likely."
WRITING ON THE WALL
MoU or de-facto defection?
Indeed, several eyebrow-raising incidents have occurred of late, triggering red-hot rumors such as Anwar himself inviting via the media Pas to come on board his unity government, cautiously optimistic statements from DAP leaders including supremo Lim Kit Siang that their party was willing to work with any quarter including Pas - which is actually an old ally - that wanted to build up the country for the better.
But it was the decision of Iskandar Dzulkarnain, the Kuala Kangsar MP and the former pol-sec of Bersatu's deputy president Faizal Azumu, to 'technically' switch sides that really rang alarm bells.
Iskandar's decision to throw his support behind Anwar without quitting his Bersatu party - which tellingly has still not sacked him yet - to avoid being forced to vacate his seat and triggering a wild card by-election that Bersatu and Pas may fail to win, had sparked talk that a Memorandum of Understanding was on the cards to be signed by the government and the PN parties either jointly or separately.
COME TO HEEL NOW OR FACE THE CHOPPING BOARD LATER
Coming together full circle but different power dynamics - with PAS now way ahead
But pundits believe this was perhaps the least likely option - given the sheer power and influence of Pas with Malay voters.
"When you have almost complete dominance over the Malay states, that's what makes Pas awesome. This makes it crucial for Anwar and DAP to take Pas seriously or face the guillotine in the next general election,"
"It's like you own almost half the units in a building or nearly half of all shares in a company, so obviously you should be invited to the JMB or the board of directors so that you won't create havoc - because obviously you can when you have that amount of influence."
Nevertheless, a long 'fight' appears in the offing - few can see the narcissistic Anwar being willing to give the PM's post unless he gets thrown out in no unmistakable manner. Already the Little Napoleons who form his inner circle are unscrupulously or not, plotting at all costs and means to keep the 76-year-old in power for a second term when the current ends in 2027 - even to the extent of taking unprincipled approaches, backpedaling on election promises and ignoring reforms.
ANWAR & DAP EXPOSED - THEY'RE NO SMARTER OR BETTER THAN ISMAIL SABRI, MUHYIDDIN REGIMES
Muhyiddin & Ismail Sabri, the 8th and 9th prime ministers
And like the proverbial chickens coming home to roost, karma is now ringing Anwar's doorbell.
"They have made themselves hated or at the very least, totally disrespected because of their political treachery of bullying the Opposition, freezing critics, social media and blogs that speak up against their political opportunism," said the commentator.
"So this is the first point - their biggest mistake. They are no longer the people's Harapan (hope). They are not yet the people's curse but I would say, well on the way. Then the Budget 2024, which shows them to be no better but no worse either, than the previous administrations. That they have hiked the sales tax to 8% from 6% and are still looking at GST really shows they are not that smart at all. Imagine if Ismail Sabri or Muhyiddin had done that - how loudly Anwar and DAP would have screamed and shouted.
PAS TO END ITS DAYS IN THE OPPOSITION - WHILE FOR ANWAR & DAP, IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE END?
Indeed, perhaps the only consolation for Anwar and DAP supporters is that the racist rantings and outbursts of religious extremism have noticeably cooled down - but this is something Pas and Bersatu can easily learn from and adapt to, so as to not chase away the non-Malay vote - the loss of which had led to their downfall and still prevents their 'Green Wave' from sweeping up the whole country even faster.
On Wednesday night, Pas deputy president Tuan Ibrahim issued a remark that was seen as aimed at continuing and even extending the ongoing narrative of a major if not seismic political change about to take place, that may involve the assimilation of Pas, with or without Bersatu, into the federal government.
“We will soon get the opportunity to lead the federal government. And Pas will be at the helm with PN,” various media had reported Tuan Ibrahim as saying.
And if that was not a big enough hint, Tuan Ibrahim hammered in the implications by announcing that Pas would not prevent delegates from discussing Anwar’s offer at its annual general assembly starting tomorrow and ending after the weekend.
In his address last night, Tuan Ibrahim said that when Pas was part of the government, it had only 18 parliamentary seats. Now despite having more than 40 seats, it was back in in the opposition!
“This is a sign that the end of being in the opposition is near,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Glibly or not, Tuan Ibrahim, who served as the environment and water minister in the previous two administrations under Ismail Sabri and Muhyiddin Yassin, even said foreign leaders he met told him the country’s future depended on Pas and PN.
WILL PAS' YOUNG TIGERS RAVAGE HARAPAN'S AGED PAPER TIGER
Sanusi & Samsuri, the 'young tigers' Malays now look to for leadership
So, over to you, Anwar! Will Harapan's 76-year-old 'paper tiger' be willing to be overshadowed by PAS' two emerging young tigers - Sanusi Md Nor, the Kedah MB, and Samsuri Mokhtar, the Terengganu MB?
Does Anwar or DAP have much choice but to bow to the real power in the country now or face an ungainly exit later on, that will surely be followed by numerous prosecutions much like the corruption cases that now dog certain Bersatu leaders! - Written by Wong Choon Mei, Politics Now!
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