BOMBSHELL - THE WAKEUP CALL IS NOW FOR ANWAR & THE SYCOPHANTS IN HIS CABINET - 'EVEN NAJIB'S TIME WAS BETTER' - MALAYSIANS MINCE NO WORDS AS PMX WAFFLES OVER HIS FIRST CABINET RESHUFFLE - DUMP ZAHID, WE WANT A KHAIRY COMEBACK, SEE SYED SADDIQ AS FUTURE PRIME MINISTER - DESPITE THE MEDIA MUDSLINGING TO SUPPRESS THE MUAR MP

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Once you get to the top, chances are you'll soon start thinking you're too good for people to want to remove. That's the basis behind the adage, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, say analysts.

And Malaysia's narcissistic Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is no exception to the rule, in fact given his penchant for self-aggrandizement and self-love, his regime is on track to become one of the biggest if not the biggest abuser of power in Malaysia's chequered political history.

A simple Cabinet reshuffle has turned into a circus, with seemingly every possible quarter including those that have not contributed an ounce of work rushing to claim a stake on new gravy train.

But it seems Anwar can't make up his mind - although it's nearly 3 months since the Domestic Trade & Cost of Living minister died, necessitating a new appointee to fill the vacancy.

Even the rash of rumors hatched and driven by vested interests from Umno-BN, Anwar's favorite ally in his unity government, have gone underground - perhaps awaiting the green light from 2 top negotiators, namely Anwar and his deputy premier Zahid Hamidi, who is also the corruption-tainted president of Umno-BN.

The eerie silence does not bode well, with analysts suspicious that it means that the politically weak Anwar cannot control or quell the rising demands from Zahid and his Umno-BN MPs.

Bets are on that Zahid, who sparked significant public outrage against Anwar's self-named 'Madani' government, will get back his 'golden goose' Home Ministry - although ironically, it was the government's shock decision to discharge Zahid from his corruption case involving the Home Ministry that sickened the citizenry.

According to a vox pop survey by news portal Malaysiakini, Zahid was most often cited as the person Anwar should drop from his Cabinet.

ANWAR HIMSELF GETS A SCOLDING FOR KEEPING DOWN KJ, SYED SADDIQ - EVEN NAJIB WAS BETTER!

Anwar himself too came in for a tongue lashing for inconsistencies and unprincipled stand over various issues, with his deliberate snubbing of election promises that he had made vehemently prior to balloting the centerpiece of growing public disgust and disenchantment for his leadership.

“I also would like to criticise our own prime minister. Issues of the rising cost of living, insufficient wages and unemployment are being ignored," said student Thuraya.

“These things are not good and he said he would improve our economy. But in my view, it’s still in bad shape.”

Very tellingly, Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan who is also the Umno deputy president came in for praise. And this is a wakeup call for Anwar, who has been accused of being paranoid and actively suppressing rivals he fears are capable of doing his job.

Other huge surprises were ex-health minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Muar MP Syed Saddiq - both of whom have been perceived as being pushed out into the cold by Anwar's PKR party as well as Zahid's Umno.

“A comeback for KJ,” Nor Mashita, a hawker, said.

“I’d like to see Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman back as the youth minister,” said Peter John. “I think he performed well last time,” he added.

A student, Thuraya, went further, saying she would like to see Syed Saddiq as a prime minister one day as he cared about the welfare of the people and was brave enough to voice his opinions on the economy.

And if Anwar and the sycophants in his government still don't believe how unpopular or perhaps even hated they have become due to their bullying and Little Napoleon ways, the startling call for the return of jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak should serve as their final humiliation.

Things were better during Najib's time, was the reason given by self-employed Mohamad.

Meanwhile, Zahid was seen as a weak link with the baggage over his corruption charges being the main factor.

“I’m sorry but I’m not a big fan of him,” said another student Akshaan. 

“He has a background story that is not good for our country. Even foreigners know about it,” said Thuraya.

ZERO CHANCE ANWAR WILL DISMISS HIS OLD PAL ZAHID AS DPM

 Too bad, hard cheese for Malaysia because pundits says there's "zero chance" Anwar will drop Zahid as DPM, although he might use still simmering public anger at Zahid's 'lucky escape' to manoeuvre against uprooting Saifuddin Nasution, his most trusted aide from his own PKR party, as Home Minister in order to satisfy the 'expansionist' tendencies of Zahid and Umno.

Not only is Umno lobbying for powerful portfolios with 'warlord' Johari Ghani touted to take over as Finance Minister from Anwar, allies in Umno's BN coalition MCA and MIC want in too. 

And since there are limited posts, Umno-BN supporters have resorted to mudslinging in the press to dislodge ministers from Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition - so that their own bosses can then pounce on the vacancies so created via negative public, or more accurately media, opinion.  

But it looks like the Malaysian man on the street is just too smart to be duped by such modus operandi.

Instead of succeeding in pushing off the cliff Harapan ministers from DAP, Amanah and worst-performing party PKR, most Malaysians have defended Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Agriculture Minister Mohamad Sabu, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli. PKR's Health Minister Dr Zaliha Ismail was rated as being too low-key on social media but otherwise did not attract criticism.

PUBLIC 'CANING' FOR SAIFUDDIN & FAHMI - 'BODEK KAKIS' OR REFORM TRAITORS OR BOTH? 

But there was no saving PKR's Saifuddin Nasution and Fahmi Fadzil, the Home Minister and Communications Minister respectively. Both men have been trashed many times by public opinion and all corners of civil society for playing sycophantic politics and putting boss Anwar's personal agenda above the nation's interests - and most of all, for abandoning the very reforms that for the decades before they got elected into power, they had urged the people to fight for.

"Such hypocrisy and ingratitude must be punished and for sure Saifuddin and Fahmi will get it at the next election if not earlier. In the eyes of votes, at the most sanguine they are irrelevant. If the duo died tomorrow, nobody in Malaysia would miss them," a well-known political pundit told Politics Now!

"At the core, they are worst type of political flotsam and jetsam and should be incinerated at the ballot box. Very strange, these guys don't seem to know shame. They pretend as if nothing has happened when between the two of them, they have acted on some issues arguably even more racially and oppressively than Umno, Bersatu and PAS combined!"

 Self-employed Lim Toon Chai was another who blamed Saifuddi for worsening racial tensions. Indeed, Saifuddin has been lambasted over a new set of citizenship eligibility laws that are seen by activists to be so draconian that it's almost illegal and exceeding the Constitution, 

“Our country is so polarised now, and I don’t see any improvement. In fact, it’s getting worse,” said Toon Chai. National Unity Minister Aaron Ago Dagong too was not spared.

ZAHID, ZAHID, ZAHID! AZALINA, THE POT-STIRRER BEHIND THE SCENES, TOO!

However, the overall champion in terms of which minister Malaysians disliked most was Zahid and his party mate Azalina Said, the de-facto Law Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Umno's Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz was rated favorably, while GPS' Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Tiong King Sing won praise for doing a good job of being vocal in promoting tourism for Malaysia.

“Tiong is not afraid to speak up, including against the Kedah MB Sanusi Md Nor over the Langkawi clothing issue,” Toon Chai added.

Indeed, even Anwar doesn't dare take on Sanusi, seen as the fastest-rising Malay hero to emerge in decades, perhaps for fear of saying the wrong things and further irritating the Malay community with his stale rhetoric instead. Written and edited by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

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