Undercurrents in 'Anwar-land'? Embarrassing revelation about Zahid by Anwar's pol-sec raises eyebrows

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Have the corridors of power now controlled by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim been hit by some unexpected undercurrent in Malaysia, where the political waters are always murky and there is always more than meets the eye?  

Was Anwar's political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin feeling a little over-confident, even a tad boastful when he revealed he had received a late night phone call from Anwar, who was also his PKR party boss, at a most crucial moment during the 2022 general election to save Umno president Zahid Hamidi from political 'extinction'?

Whatever the motivation, Shamsul's shock expose is bound to send tremors down the political wire especially in Umno, where Zahid still has many internal foes and challengers.

"I received a call from Anwar at 2.30am," Malaysia Now news portal reported Shamsul as telling a podcast Apa Cerita.

"What's interesting is that Bagan Datuk only had about sixty thousand voters. The results for the other constituencies have already been announced... but in Bagan Datuk, not yet."

OOPS! HOW EMBARRASSING FOR ZAHID & UMNO

According to Shamsul, he was asked by Anwar not to seek a recount so as to pave the way for Zahid to deliver support for Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition, which also includes Umno's most detested enemy, the DAP. This ultimately enabled the formation of a unity government and the culmination of Anwar's decades-long dream to become PM .

"At the time, I said we have to fight. We have to make sure we count properly. There were almost 800 spoilt votes. I mean, how could it be? I lost by 348 votes, so we wanted to continue and fight," Shamsul told the podcast.

"(But) he called and said that 'I am impressed with your hard work in Bagan Datuk' and so on. But Sam, we want to form a government. Zahid has already issued a letter to form a government."

The revelations from Shamsul, who was his party's candidate in Bagan Datuk, lend strength to suspicion that Anwar and Zahid had made a secret pact long before the 15th general election. 

Many even speculate the pact was not only to ensure Anwar achieved his PM dream but at the same time allowed Zahid to 'buy' his freedom from a barrage of serious corruption charges in a sordid exchange. 

WHY NOW?

However, the thing puzzling many pundits is why reveal all this now. 

Is it really just Shamsul out to blow his own trumpet or is it actually Anwar behind the scenes trying to cut Zahid down to size in the wake of Umno's two blistering by-election wins in Mahkota, Johor and Nenggiri, Kelantan?

Whichever, analysts warned of rumblings down the Umno line at the insinuation that their president was so weak that if not for Anwar's intervention and Shamsul's 'grace', he would have lost his own stronghold seat - and Umno would now have only 29 seats in the federal Parliament to its name.

"Whoever the hidden hand, the result is clear. It will create unease in Umno especially against Zahid's faction. A secret pact with Anwar before the 2022 election is a very big no-no in Umno and grassroot members will want their division heads to grill Zahid on it again," a veteran pundit told PoliticsNow Malaysia.

LETTER TO FORM THE GOVT - TO ANWAR WITH LOVE FROM ZAHD

"Perhaps those aligned to Zahid have become too arrogant and are demanding more positions in the Cabinet or the government companies. So it's not surprising those in team Anwar would want to derail them but for sure, Zahid's own foes in Umno will also use this information to mock him or cut him down to size in the eyes of Umno members."

Zahid's wafer-thin victory in Bagan Datuk gave the Umno-led BN coalition a total of 30 seats in the 15th general election in 2022. It was BN's worst performance since being thrown out of power in 2018 following decades of hegemonic rule since 1957.

Together with the 82 seats won by Anwar's Pakatan, the Umno-BN cobbled together a fragile unity government with a simple majority of just 112 seats - although this majority has since grown with the King persuading the main parties in Sarawak and Sabah to also throw in their support for Anwar.

Even then, the majority of Umno and BN factions had been unhappy at Zahid's decision to align with Anwar and many accused him of self-interest so as to wriggle free from his corruption charges. 

Zahid, who was appointed Deputy Prime Minister by Anwar, has since been controversially granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal but both he and Anwar deny there was any collusion.

"What would be interesting is to see the letter to form the government that Shamsul said Zahid had issued to Anwar," said the pundit.

"Is it real? What were the terms? Or no terms even?"

Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia

https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/