By Niza Shimi
As the year 2022 comes to a close, there are storms blowing across various parts of the globe. An arctic polar blast in the United Kingdom and Europe, a bomb cyclone in North America and tropical monsoon storms like no other in Asia.
But in Malaysia, it is the political storms that has dominated the landscape for as long as I can remember. As a young adult of the 1980s, (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim – (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad duo has played a huge role in my awareness as they are both capable of whipping up a political storm when it suited them.
Will it be the end of the Tun M era? Will Anwar live up to expectations as the 10th Prime Minister (PM10)? Whatever the future holds, we can only hope it will be better. But we should also never forget the lessons of the past.
As former British PM Sir Winston Churchill, paraphrasing George Santayana, said before the House of Commons in 1948, “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Are there lessons to be learnt from Anwar and Tun M?
For Tun M, it will be a sad ending to his political legacy as the party he founded, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), is left in limbo upon his resignation following the defeat of all 369 candidates fielded in the 15th general elections (GE15), including himself.
That hasn’t stopped him from commenting about the goings of the so-called Unity Government formed by Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN) and GPS as well as GRS from Sarawak and Sabah. Perikatan Nasional (PN) made up of Bersatu and PAS form the Opposition bloc.
When interviewed by The Rakyat Post, Tun M said: “This is not a unity government, this is a coalition. We’ve had coalitions before.”
“If the government is made up of all parties like what happened during the time of Winston Churchill during the 2nd World War, which was called the National Government, then that is a unity government,” Tun M added.
It seems, Anwar still believes he leads a Unity Government. But his former comrade from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) who is now with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council member Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah does not mince his words.
Apparently, as reported by The Vibes, Saifuddin tweeted; “After coming into power, (he) only chooses principles which suit himself, spreads propaganda, restricts social media, sues his critics, practises tyranny, and becomes an autocracy.
“May democracy, which means ‘a government of the people, by the people for the people’, does not turn into ‘a government of the PM, by the PM for the PM’.”
Perhaps then when there was a common enemy, all differences were set aside as political adversaries united under the PH coalition that toppled BN in the 2018 elections. The common enemy was former PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak, now serving time in Kajang Prison.
Ironically, the “enemy” for GE15 was United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi from BN who is now the deputy prime minister. So, nothing is impossible in politics.
In an opinion piece published by Sin Chew Daily, Chan Aun Kuang wrote about the Chinese pouring praises on Anwar and now Zahid, the one they had previously scorned. In 2022, Anwar is seen as a saviour, a complete opposite of his not-so-Chinese-friendly image in earlier days. Wonders will never cease in politics.
But I identify with Chan (the executive editor-in-chief of Nanyang Siang Pau) when he wrote, “To be honest, journalists who regularly covered Anwar’s events three decades ago still try to keep an inexplicable distance from this newly minted prime minister today.”
Anwar has lost many comrades, traitors as he calls them, in his journey to be the PM. Whether we like it or not, Anwar is the PM. Will he live up to the expectations of those who believe in his Reformasi message? Or is he just hyperbole and hype? The jury is still out.
As we welcome the 2023, the song Auld Lang Syne sung on New Year’s Eve goes “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?
May the New Year 2023 be a better year for Malaysia.
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