Dubai Move, London Move or both? Anwar reconnoitering overseas as pressure ups over Najib gag order, tariff hike?

Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia 

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Call it irresponsible or call it arrogant but Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's response to the growing public furore over his perceived mishandling of the country's economy while politics gets out of hand and governance takes a turn for the worst seems typical.

Unable to handle the pressures at home or not, the embattled 77-year-old has dashed off to other countries on working visits, even though these will cost taxpayers a bomb at a time when austerity and tightening the belt should top the menu - opting instead to ignore the deafening calls for accountability, transparency and diligence.

In Dubai for a three day working visit since Sunday and then off to London immediately for a five day official trip, Anwar raised eyebrows with his latest round of 'gallivanting'. It also did not escape notice that Anwar was accompanied by Tengku Zafrul, the Investment Minister whom Anwar has confirmed is keen to defect from ally party Umno into his own PKR party. Other Umno bigwigs who tagged along were Zambry Kadir, the former foreign affairs minister and now Higher Education minister as well as Johari Ghani, the Plantations and Commodities minister. It is not clear if Mohamad Hasan, the current Foreign Affairs minister who is also from Umno but perceived as a potential substitute for Anwar as PM, has been asked not to attend or merely keeping a low profile during the trips. 

"It is time for Anwar to go, right?" opined an analyst to PoliticsNow Malaysia. He was referring not to the PM's flashy, cushy and frequently hollow trips abroad but to the feelings gelling and hardening in the minds of many Malaysians including Anwar's own supporters that it is time for him to step down as PM. Or at the very least announce a succession plan that must include his immediately relinquishing the post of Finance Minister to a credible and experienced technocrat who won't fall easily under his thumb or the graft-riddled Umno's.

WEAKEST LEADERSHIP SINCE 1957, WORSE THAN MUHYIDDIN & ISMAIL SABRI?

Comments that are much easier said than done, no doubt, but as the analyst pointed out - what choice is there for a Malaysia gone shockingly off the rails and down-spiraling even faster due to the weakest leadership ever experienced in 67 years of history since independence from British rule in 1957.

Perhaps only two other PMs were as dismal - Bersatu's Muhyiddin Yassin who headed the government from 2020 to 2021 and Umno's Ismail Sabri from 2021 to 2022. But both Muhyiddin and Ismail can claim with justification the world-crippling Covid-19 pandemic as their excuse for the lack of economic healing and progress under their stewardship. But not Anwar, who controversially convinced the country's previous monarch to give him the chance to form a unity government when the 2022 general election failed to yield a clear winner.

More significantly, both Muhyiddin and Ismail despite their plodding and conservative ways were also more circumspect and respectful of Malaysia's democratic parameters that despite being kinked out by racism and religious paranoia were at least still recognizable as democratic space during their respective regimes. But no longer under the ironically self-styled reformist Anwar and his Pakatan Harapan coalition - upon which so much hope had been pinned but only disappointment and broken promise one after another have been forthcoming.

Indeed, no longer is dissent, criticism even in the name of diversity, nor is freedom of speech and thought welcomed anymore. Instead there are gag orders, threats of investigation by internet watchdog MCMC, antigraft watchdog MACC as well as the police. Even the judiciary is seen as having backpedaled into its past ways of being up for sale to the most powerful and richest in the land. Activists, bloggers, writers and civil society have been and still are being castrated, their jobs and livelihood squashed and destroyed overnight without so much as a second thought from the Anwar regime or the Little Napoleons who form his inner circle.

NO COMPASSION, NOT EVEN COMMON SENSE?  

Compassion, understanding as well as genuine moves to heal the country's complex socio-economic structure, already rendered rotten, twisted and corruption-riddled by past administrations, appear to have similarly fallen off Anwar and Pakatan's radar. Instead, new hypocrisy has replaced old hypocrisy. 

In public debate now is a much-needed and long-awaited plan to trim the national debt by cutting government subsidies. But while it has finally moved off the ground, the half-baked way of its implementation has invited more questions than answers - casting question marks about the capabilities and motives of the Anwar cabinet. According to analysts, the elephants in the room are the monopolies and the government-made tycoons that benefitted from these subsidy schemes, which were mostly hatched during the Mahathir Mohamad days and added onto by the other prime ministers who followed, including the disgraced and jailed Najib Razak. Why are these monopolies, the underlying cause behind the over-bloating of the subsidy schemes meant to help the masses and the needy still un-dismantled? Why are the tycoons and the cronies behind them still unscathed and perhaps even richer than before? Why is it that it is the ordinary Malaysian who is instead being called upon to bear the burden of paying more for their essentials, which include electricity, water, fuel, rice, sugar, eggs, chicken, as well as the knock-on or spillover impact of the hikes in these prices?

"Malaysia and Singapore are separated by only a narrow strait. Hence, why does TNB insist that rising international energy prices require tariff increases, while Singapore can lower its rates due to falling energy prices?" asked Wee Jeck Seng, the vice-president of the MCA party.

Wee was referring to national electricity company TNB, which despite making an outsized RM3.8 billion net profit for the first three quarters of 2024, is seeking a tariff adjustment.

"An increase in electricity prices will significantly affect both the public and businesses in Malaysia, particularly as the economy recovers. Any additional cost burden could place further strain on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and impact the job market. Moreover, higher tariffs directly raise living costs for ordinary households, forcing low-income groups to reduce daily spending even further," wrote Wee in a statement, despite the MCA being an ally party via its connection to Umno, the Malay-centric party whose support for Anwar was crucial to his forming the current government in 2022.

CHILDISHNESS & MELODRAMAS ARE NOT LEGACIES

Anwar and his die-hard loyalists have been quick to point the finger at Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, who is also deputy president of Anwar's own PKR party. But without Anwar's tacit nod, not only as PKR president but also prime minister and finance minister, Rafizi's rather immature fixation to ram through the subsidy rationalization plan - even though it might cause the majority of his countrymen grave hardship - would not be able to see the light of day.

"Whether it is Anwar or Rafizi, this is not the way to leave a legacy. You can call it ill-timed, ruthless or uncaring - but maybe above all, it is childish. It's like 'I must push this through even if I die'. But what if other people are destroyed in the process. Why should other people be held ransom to your ego?" an insider in Anwar's ruling coalition told PoliticsNow Malaysia.

"Granted, Rafizi's subsidy rationalization plan may turn out to be the only concrete measure coming from the Anwar administration. But it is unbalanced and does not tackle the full problem. Brushing off critics by talking about targeted subsidies won't work. Until now neither Anwar or Rafizi can tell you how they are going to effect their so-called target or in other words, how to reimburse the subsidy to those who truly deserve it. It's a giant mess in the making."

ADDENDUM GAG ORDER OR RED HERRING?

However the subsidy chips eventually fall, cynics in the myriad coffee shops that dot the country are already shaking with outrage over the latest gag order. The Anwar regime's latest bid to silence the Malaysian public is over a controversial addendum to a partial royal pardon for Najib granted by the previous King, who had retired in January 2024. The addendum, allegedly kept hidden by the Anwar regime for months, grants Najib the right to spend his reduced six-year jail term at one of his palatial homes instead of in public prison, where he has been incarcerated since 2022.

Still influential in Umno, Najib's support was seen as instrumental in Umno's endorsement of Anwar as PM in the aftermath of the 2022 election. Hence, Anwar has been accused of being at the centre of a complex conspiracy to free Najib from all corruption crimes linked to the 1MDB debacle in a way that would least anger voters, who had come out in full force to overthrow Najib and Umno in the 2018 election.

Anwar has denied the accusations but getting the majority of Malaysians to believe his words, especially with the clock ticking down on the next general election which must be held by 2027, may be beyond him. Hence the worst crackdown on the media, social media and freedom of speech since the draconian Mahathir era and the man behind the current oppression is believed to be Anwar's Communications Minister, the increasingly unpopular and isolated Fahmi Fadzil. 

"What we see on paper is the Anwar government applying for a gag order while Najib's lawyers are objecting to it. So the gag order, or is it a red herring, may be aimed to present this image of an Anwar versus Najib scenario. It seeks to distance Anwar from the addendum scandal - but is it possible for Anwar, who is all-powerful as PM of the country, be unaware of Najib's moves?" opined the insider.

"Most of all, is Najib even interested in house arrest or home detention anymore? Most people think Najib will go for broke. It's now a fresh and full pardon for him and thanks to Anwar's recent meeting with the new King over the old King's addendum, the prospect of Najib and Umno submitting a fresh application for a full pardon is now spot on."

Indeed, while the latest melodrama over the addendum gag order unleashed by the Anwar regime rages on, a more sinister play may be acting out right under the public's nose. 

Whether or not, it will really lead to Najib making a comeback as 11th PM to succeed the flailing Anwar as part of some sort of pre-arranged power transition scheme, what's more apparent at this point is that when the mother of scandals finally erupts, Anwar is more likely to be found abroad than at home - perhaps horse-trading for his party or coalition's political survival rather than tending to matters more appropriate to national interest such as the economy and cleaner politics.

Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia

https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/