INCREASING DESPOTISM WON'T HELP MALAYSIA'S ANWAR - AS US BLACKROCK DEAL CHOKES & ALLIES SUDDENLY TURN INTO RIVALS

 

Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow!

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Accusations of being a 'false warrior' are now being flung at embattled Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - a real warning sign of fraying ties as it comes from Umno, his most crucial ally if he wants to stay in power. 

Puad Zarkashi, a senior leader in Umno's supreme leadership council, not only lambasted Anwar over a controversial deal that would give effective control of strategic air infrastructure to US investment behemoth BlackRock, but also clawed at an open and still bleeding sore - Anwar's inability to keep election promises to voters.

“Those who object to the sale of MAHB shares to GIP are now considered as pretending to be heroes. This is the best political expression post-GE14," said Puad in a sarcastic retort to Anwar, who a day ago had accused critics of political "grandstanding" over the deal seen as going against the Muslim agenda and indirectly helping Israel to defeat Palestine .

“In fact, before the 14th general election in 2018, many pretended to be heroes. They said they would lower oil prices, car prices, toll prices, remove study loans, remove corruption and closed tenders.

“They pretended to be warriors before they got keris (Malay dagger symbolising power). But now that they have the dagger, they put it straight in their sarong,” Puad did not bother to mince any words at all.

DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE

Malaysia's 33-odd million population is predominantly Malay-Muslim and Anwar himself had led strong protests when Israel retaliated against a Hamas-sparked incursion with an all-out war against Palestine. He is now seen as backtracking on his fiery promises about protecting the Palestine people and how the world should punish Israel for violence and the bloodshed of innocent civilians. 

 BlackRock has been revealed as being among the biggest deal-makers in the supply of arms and weapons to Israel, and its unit GIP is now leading a 4-party consortium to take over MAHB, a Malaysian government-controlled company which manages almost all the airports in the country.   

Many pundits and activists also see the RM18 billion BlackRock deal as Anwar bending over backwards to help US interests in the region as the fight for control of the South China Seas with Beijing escalates. 

Perhaps to head off accusations of not putting the interests of the Muslim world ahead of the US, Anwar had just days ago announced Malaysia would apply to join the China and Russia-led BRICS economic grouping. If successful, Malaysia would be the second in Southeast Asia to become a BRICS member - although the journey there, due to the already long queue of applicant countries might take some time whilst the stake sale of MAHB with subsequent loss of control to US-linked interests would be more immediate.

Questions have also been raised as to why Anwar wants to hive off what would be an almost 30% stake in a strategic asset that obviously is also linked to Malaysia's national security, especially when MAHB is already making huge profits despite its poor performance and service due to its near monopoly in the industry.

“When I heard that MAHB will sell shares to a US company, my assumption was that MAHB was losing money,” former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad had asked last week.

“Now, I have heard that MAHB made a profit of RM543 million in 2023. Not many companies make this kind of profit. Why sell 30% to a US company supporting Israel? I do not understand this.”

Till now, Anwar has not given a direct answer, only jibing back that Mahathir too had in 2018 attended fund manager meetings that included BlackRock. The weak Anwar response only invited another thundering retort from the 'grand old man' of Malaysian politics.

Quick as a flash, the 98-year-old Mahathir replied that Israel had not committed genocide at the time, and no actual agreement had been made with BlackRock or its units as the meeting was more about “finding out what they could do”.

“Now we see how nasty and inhumane Israel has been. The oppression of Palestinians had been going on, but it wasn’t as serious. Today, they sometimes kill 100 people a day," Mahathir poured scorn on his 76-year-old ex-protege.

“This is inhuman, and the worst part of it is that the US is supporting this. Genocide is taking place. Policies must change according to what is happening on the ground."

Whether Mahathir would rush to change his tune if he was back in power is anyone's guess, given the volatile and often dubious nature of politicians in general, but what is clear is that the BlackRock deal does reek of more broken promises, dark hands, unseen shadows and perhaps even corruption. 

The announcement, which came after months of heated denials, was among a slew of others that when made public drew outrage, suspicion and accusations of nepotism, cronyism and corruption. One of these was the Demand Responsive Transit project said to be worth billions that was awarded to the husband of Anwar's Sports minister Hannah Yeoh. Till now, there are few details about the pricing and if there is a concession period for the deal, which basically is an e-hailing mini-bus system for Selangor - a state controlled by Anwar's PKR party.

SUICIDES, STRANGE CRIMES AS ECONOMY WORSENS & DESPOTISM RISES

Geopolitics, domestic power tussles and corruption allegations aside, it is the vulnerability of the Anwar administration that will still be the first layer to be seen when the dust settles. 

As Umno's Puad said, there have been too many broken promises. There has also been too much reliance on old-style despotism to gag critics as well as ill-advised policies including severe subsidy cuts that have come at a time when ordinary Malaysians are already feeling trapped, even doomed, as the country enters a phase of unprecedented inflationary pressures and skyrocketing living costs.

Ultimately, the flailing economy will be the cross Anwar and his Pakatan Harapan coalition will be nailed on, say many analysts. Bombast and political rhetoric will not help Anwar. Instead his underperformance, increasing use of paid sycophants to sing his praises but lack of political will and dynamism to implement meaningful reforms will only make it easier for his foes to open the door to a change of government earlier rather than later. 

The next general election, GE16, is due only in 2027 although a change of guard may take place before then if the economic situation or public perception of unpredictable leadership worsens.  

Not surprisingly, coalition allies including Umno and Sarawak's powerful GPS have begun to distance themselves from his leadership. Umno's Puad is but the latest of many politicians within Anwar's own unity government to openly blast him in public.

Puad hails from the southern state of Johor, once the impregnable power base of Umno. At the 2022 general election, Umno could only win 7 of the 26 federal Parliament seats available there. Anwar's PKR also won 7, while the Bersatu opposition party led by ex-premier Muhyiddin Yassin could only win 2 and its Islamist Pas ally failed to snare any at all. 

As such, in the next general election or perhaps even before then, an intense battle can be expected to be waged against Anwar - not only by the opposition but perhaps also by Umno, his own coalition ally for now.  

Mahathir had today (June 24) also pointed out that despite the rosy announcements from the Anwar administration of having struck billion ringgit deals with US giants and other multinationals  including Google, Microsoft and Apple, little concrete benefit has been seen as many of the announcements were about “just memorandums of understanding, not actual investment agreements.”

 “The cost of living has increased several times, and many people, especially the poor, are suffering. Some are at their wits’ end trying to feed their families," Free Malaysia Today reported Mahathir as saying.

“There have even been cases of suicide and many strange crimes being committed because people are desperate. They don’t have a good or sufficient income to support their families. From the perspective of many people, the economy is not doing well,” the ex-PM added.

Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow!

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