ANWAR'S FAILS BY-ELECTION REFERENDUM - LIGHTS PATH FOR MAT HASAN TO RETAKE PM POST FOR UMNO - AS 'GAGGED TO DEATH' MALAYSIANS FIGHT DESPOTISM, RISING TYRANNY

 Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Everything that could go wrong went wrong for embattled Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at a key by-election seen as a referendum on him and his team. Not only did his PKR party plunge into oblivion at the Sungai Bakap state assembly poll, an alarming wave of satisfied thumbs-up and 'serves him right' reactions was felt in most corners of the rest of the nation.

"Anwar really had it coming. The people have spoken - the Malays by coming out to vote for Pas and the non-Malays by snubbing the polls to show their distaste for the trajectory Anwar and his Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil have launched the country into," a political analyst told PoliticsNow!

"Heads must roll of course. No, Anwar definitely won't sack himself but he would be most foolish not to sack Fahmi fast. The Malays hate the BlackRock deal, the non-Malays are alarmed at how Anwar is backtracking on the very reforms he used to push and corruption is starting to spurt out. Everybody in the country is now angry and will fight the Anwar regime for becoming more and more like despots and tyrants each day." 

"It's a reflection of how arrogant they have become to even think they can control the people by clamping down on freedom of speech, squeezing social media, banning this post or that blog and trying to find all ways fair or foul to regulate expression of thought. That to me is their single biggest sin and blunder. Malaysians, regardless rural or urban, Malay or non-Malay feel it strongly- they despise such unfair and extremist tactics. We can already see they will now 'lawan' or fight the Anwar regime to protect their personal rights - the same as when they joined forces to throw out the Najib regime."

PATH LIT FOR MAT HASAN TO PROCEED

Mat Hasan, center, rising to the occasion as Foreign minister is seen as more popular than his Umno boss Zahid Hamidi 

In the aftermath of the stunning defeat, a path has been lit for more balanced and popular hands such as Mohamad Hasan, the Foreign Affairs minister and deputy president of ally party Umno, to take over the leadership of the country. And this can happen before the next general election is due in 2027. In fact, an increasing number of observers believe Anwar would be lucky to even survive his current term.

Already Mohamad Hasan, one of Umno's most popular leaders, has spoken out against Anwar over the controversial BlackRock airports deal, fueling talk that he and other party warlords were ready to come out from the shadows and oust Zahid Hamidi, the current Umno president on whose goodwill and personal friendship Anwar depends on to survive as prime minister. 

Without Zahid by his side, Anwar is expected to face a challenge to his premiership. If it is Mohamad Hasan who takes over the Umno presidency from the unpopular Zahid, he is expected to negotiate for the PM's post so as to bring the all-powerful top-job back to Umno as his trophy offering. Alternatively, he might strike a deal for Umno to form a new unity government with the PN main opposition bloc. 

Indeed, the cynicism surrounding Anwar's ability as leader of the country is already so strong that many felt Hassan Karim, an MP from his own PKR party, was being too kind with his words when warning that Anwar had three years to avoid the same fate as former UK premier, Rishi Sunak, who lost the post to Keir Starmer after angry voters dealt him a landslide defeat on Friday.

WHEN CORRUPTION GOES UP, SO DOES DESPOTISM

Anwar close buddies with Zahid, the corruption-tainted Deputy Prime Minister and Umno president

Among factors that Hassan gave in a statement issued after the Sungai Bakap loss was the auditor-general's report that highlighted irregularities and leakages involving 11 projects related to the Anwar government.

"Among them included the embezzlement and leakages worth billions of ringgit that happened during the present government," said Hassan.

"So, it is easy for the people in Sungai Bakap to conclude that there is no difference between the current government and the previous administrations," Hassan, the Pasir Gudang MP, added.

Anwar's party lost the seat by a margin of  4,267 votes, an almost three-fold increase in gap compared to the result in last year's state-wide polls. Making it even more telling of Anwar's waning influence, the mixed constituency is located nearby to his long-held stronghold of Permatang Pauh, which his daughter Nurul Izzah failed to retain in the 2022 general election. 

Consolidating the overall picture of voter gloom and rejection was the PKR candidate. A highly-qualified educator Dr Joohari Ariffin, who as campaigning progressed, made himself disliked by allegedly talking down to the people and lecturing them on the federal government's line. This gave an awful glimpse of the very sort of leader - the highfalutin but empty-vessel type - that most constituents dread but would get if they blindly voted for him. 

Ironically Joohari's opponent was mocked by team Anwar for being lowly-educated, allegedly only holding an SPM or 'O'-level qualification. Yet Abidin Ismail, hailing from the Islamist Pas party and representing the PN main opposition bloc, garnered 14,489 votes to flatly beat Joohari's 10,222.

POOR NARRATIVES, BAD PROPAGANDA MINISTER? 

Unpopular Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil

But even with a 'dream candidate' in Sungai Bakap, it is Anwar, his inner circle and his policies that have put him, his party and government at the brink.

“It’s nothing to do with the candidate. It’s the national issues, the subsidy, perceived inflation, cost of living, and the burden the people have to face with all this," Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow told reporters.

“It is probably we lost the narrative, despite all the effort, but the narrative, this did not produce the result that we want.” 

The elephants in the room for the by-election debacle are rising and extreme despotism, to the extent the Anwar regime is now shamefully the government to have the most number of times worldwide asked TikTok to ban posts seen as unflattering to him and his rule; corruption most hypocritical and foul as evidenced by the auditor-general's report; an airports deal involving the US and pro-Israeli firm BlackRock even though it might impinge on Malaysia's national security; as well as the hugely unpopular move to axe diesel subsidies which is expected to cause another spike in costs of living.

GAGGED TO 'DEATH', MALAYSIANS TO STOP TALKING ALTOGETHER?

Yet without substantiating, Anwar's daughter Nurul has rushed to blame the opposition's 'racial talk and slander' for the defeat - making her call for "introspection" and "self-reflection" appear insincere and raising further concern that this was another Anwar SOS to Fahmi and communications regulator MCMC to escalate manipulative bans or intensify self-serving curtailments on freedom of speech, social media and the already toothless press.

"Ban any more social media or blogs and Malaysians might as well stop talking altogether. It's become so ridiculous the only way out for Anwar is to repent and his remorse must be seen and felt, not just lip service and then quietly plot behind the scenes with Fahmi on how to further gag the citizenry," said the analyst.

"Someone's head must roll - this is not about blame game but is critical for accountability. To try and hijack the country's freedom of speech is a very serious and dangerous crime and the only apt punishment must be the guillotine - or someone else whether in the same regime or in future regimes will copycat Anwar and Fahmi. If they succeed, it's doomsday and goodbye to us all!" the analyst said.

FRIGHTENING ZENITH FOR ANWAR & DAP

Malay voter form nearly 60% of the 39,279-strong electorate in Sungai Bakap, or some 22,815 voters there are Malay. Chinese voters number some 8,642 and Indians some 6,683. 

The total turnout - Malay and non-Malay, was about 63% or some 24,711 voters came out to cast their ballots. Of these, 70% of turnout was Malay, only 47% was Chinese and 58% Indian.

With the majority of Malay voters spurning team Anwar, some 12,776 votes swung to the opposition's favour. The sharp drop in non-Malay turnout meant only 6,176 non-Malay votes went to team Anwar, which traditionally depends on non-Malay votes for their victories.

Very frightening for Anwar regime is that some 1,763 non-Malay voters decided to back the PN opposition despite its overt Malay-centric stance. The PN's unbalanced manifesto and raison d'etre had previously killed non-Malay support, with the Chinese and Indians seeing the PN as racist and reeking of religious extremism.

"This is the sign that Anwar and his Chinese-dominated partner in the government, the DAP, have reached their zenith. The next step is the end," the analyst opined.

"It's like watching an embryonic infant or adolescent commit suicide. So fast and it's game over! What we hear from insiders is that no one can stop Anwar, he has positioned himself as the emperor of his unity government and no one is allowed to question or stop him. So that's the excuse DAP will give, just the same as when they fell out with Mahathir Mohamad. But regardless of all the lies and webs of deceit that come with politics, what goes up must come down. And for Anwar and DAP, who can they blame but themselves for betraying the country's trust," suggested the analyst.   

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!

https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/