Let's be real. The current government helmed by Anwar Ibrahim has an integrity problem. The current line-up is a mix and match of people, stitched together into rather fragile coalition of political actors, where if one were to be remove, would prove sufficient to collapse the house of cards it is built up to be.
The addition of Barisan National (BN) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) into the mix, bulks up the numbers needed to form the shape of the government. Enough numbers to starve off a direct challenge from Perikatan Nasional (PN); which to be honest is coming in the near future. PN will definitely test this coalition at every instance it can, though it will be comical to the neutral observer.
So far the opposition PN has only managed to throw insults against Anwar's government which is not that far remove from what the Republican Party is doing in the United States. Donald Trump will find himself in familiar company with the likes of Mahiaddin Yassin and Hadi Awang.
Having Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as Deputy Prime Minister is a necessary evil for Anwar Ibrahim. Yet, Ahmad Zahid is clearly hampering the messaging that the Pakatan Harapan government wants to send out to the world of being the best option for Malaysia at this day and age. For so long Anwar's message to the masses was that he was anti-corruption and would fight for justice to prevail in Malaysia. He was the good guy in a room filled with political hacks only interested to fill up their own pockets.
But post GE15, the irony is thick with Anwar and it has not gone unnoticed.
Ahmad Zahid is the antithesis to everything that Anwar has been standing for, for the past 24 years. At the point when Anwar could say that he has achieved his greatest victory, the taste of success is dulled by the bitter taste of pure corruption he brought into the blend.
Ahmad Zahid's multiple court cases is set to over-shadow everything Anwar hopes to accomplish as a Prime Minister. Malaysians love talking about scandal more than any good deed you may do for society, and this is clearly not the best way to start off your premiership when you rode on the platform as being the cleanest guy on the ballot card. The scandal that is Ahmad Zahid will follow Anwar Ibrahim and his unity government until the next election cycle.
It is also not helped by the fact that the likes of Ahmad Zahid's daughter, Nurulhidayah Ahmad Zahid, just days after her father became Deputy Prime Minister; was elevated to Chairman for MQ Technology Bhd (MQ Tech). To top it up, in the same period; Ahmad Zahid's son-in-law, Saiful Nizam Mohd Yusoff, was made Group President for Jiankun International Bhd. Assumptions are rift that these were all done to leverage on Ahmad Zahid's position as Deputy Prime Minister.
And all Anwar could say about this is "You are innocent until proven guilty", while Ahmad Zahid stood next to him.
Anwar's government has an integrity problem, and no amount of white-washing and messaging can clean that up. On one front, PH has to counter the poisonous rhetoric from the newly minted opposition block in PN and at the same time fight another battle on the home front. Ahmad Zahid will be the bogeyman that will haunt Anwar and he will be reminded of this by his critics for the rest of his political career as Prime Minister.
It is hard to silence your critics when internally, your plate was never clean to begin with.
Maclean Patrick is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
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