MGG Pillai Commentary View

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The prodigal son returns

MALAYSIAN POLITICS IS IN is in flux. The National Front (BN), caught up in its labyrinthian conspiracies, threatens to implode. The opposition parties, unwilling to unite except on each's contradictory agendas, threatens to explode. The citizens, caught in this morass, hope for a new leader who could restore the balance. As it looks now, none in the established parties, in government and opposition, can provide it. The country declines steadily for want of leaders and leadership. Those that are, from the prime minister down, cannot see beyond the tip of their noses, surrounded by a cabal more interested in the perks of office than why they are there. It acts in different parties in different forms but the main aim to power is based on the belief that their often confused political view must dominate. Even in the most principled, personalities more than politics dominate. Along the war, rigor mortis starts to set in on politics.

The two leading Malay political parties, UMNO and PAS, look to each other to strengthen their secular or fundamentalist Islamic base, while refusing to accept the change that comes with it. UMNO adopted the Islamic agenda to outwit PAS, which in turn attracted the secular Muslims who disagreed with UMNO's reach. This upset the core supporters of each, and the infighting within and without has yet to stop. Meanwhile, the other political parties – in government and opposition – have had their own problems which mirrored those of UMNO and PAS. The leaders could not control the rot, and resorted to extraconstitutional means to keep them in line. But when leaders are more concerned with keeping their parties together than their political agenda, the disinterest and angst on the ground, not just amongst their members, turns to loathing.

It is into this cauldron that the former deputy prime minister, recently released from prison, steps in. Dato' Seri Anwar was carried into prison screaming that he was imprisoned for his political views and ambition, but he had to be silenced for the damage, if his views carried, to UMNO's and BN's political future. But damage he did. He emerged from prison six years to the day he was expelled from UMNO in 1998, outwardly stronger now than then. He held his ground throughout, especially when he insisted on microsurgical orthopaedic treatment in Munich, his health declined dangerously, but passions had been inflamed so high that the government blinked, the political consequences of his death in custody too much of a political risk.

But his release had to do not with politics but with a quiet rebellion from within the ranks of government and politics. The UMNO-led BN forgot that political vendettas must be swift, for they cannot stand to scrutiny years afterwards. The judiciary convicted him with alacrity, but the appeals took so long that the judiciary could not be held to ransom any longer – the newer judges wanted no part in it – and the judges decided to put a stop to what is now widely accepted as a political vendetta. Those who once believed without a shadow of doubt that Dato' Seri Anwar was guilty now are now not so certain. Many had perjured, and cannot face their guilty conscience. When the Federal Court allowed his appeal against corruption, it reflected the changing view throughout Malaysian soceity.

So when he was released from prison two months ago, he came out with his head high, and the outpouring of support caused no end of fear within the ruling elite and government. Whilst the BN began to implode from within after his arrest, he helped it along by keeping his political challenge alive from prison. He ran a brilliant campaign, his supporters fanning it along, and in every confrontation with the government over his health, he stood his ground and, in the end, outstared them. He left for Munich on his release and after surgery treated as a senior political leader. Those those who saw him or sent emissaries and messages included Malaysian sultans, BN and opposition leaders, world political leaders; several foreign leaders invited him to recuperate in their countries. The round of interviews he gave re-iterated his view of Malaysian and global affairs and it all added up to a fresh life as a prime minister-in-waiting.

When he returned from Jeddah, where he recuperated after his sojourn in Munich, he was already a threat to the BN government. That was confirmed blatantly when UMNO, at its general assembly, banned him from ever returning to UMNO with several leaders blackguarding him from the floor and to reporters. But he had at no time asked to return to UMNO. The government not wanting another trial of strength went to extraordinary lengths to stop any welcoming party greet him on Sunday (31 October 2004) or to allow him to meet his supporters and well wishers at a public stadium. An official request was denied in a hamfisted way that it left the government with a bloody nose instead. It continues to believe he can be contrained if the full force of the law is forced upon him. But it is wrong here. The more the restrictions and pressure on him, the wider his public support.

It forgot however that much had changed amongst his supporters. A powerful icon in jail, he is now caught in fractious infighting for his political soul which could damage his political persona. Those who suffered for him – many undoubtedly did – now want repayment in the form of being the aides they were at the time of his political problems. But the Anwar that was sacked is not the Anwar today. His political and personal views have undergone a catharsis; his arrogance has tempered to a mildness one never thought possible; he has not lost the fire in his belly, but he has shaken off from the UMNO culture that once threatened to marginalise him as his nemesis, Tun Mahathir Mohamed, is today. But those fighting for his soul does not seem to have understood it. Nor, it must be said, those in the government.

The call for a public reception for him played into the government's hands. He should have come in quietly, as I argued with several of the organisers, than be drawn into a political fight before he landed. He is still constrained from active politics by the five-year ban on party affiliation, which ends in April 2007. There is a premature push for a pardon. But each action taken on his behalf is uncoordinated and does not have the unanimous support of his generals. Each appears to be an attempt by one at the expense of the others. What we have is an infighting as severe as in the BN political parties.

He is without doubt a leader no political party can ignore. He has said he would not rejoin UMNO even if invited, that his reformist agenda is his politics now, and that is best served from the opposition benches. The BN is afraid he would make good his promise, and the opposition that he would not. But the fact remains that he is the best best for a unified opposition without which it cannot dream of power in the centre. In the short term, even a government of national unity, in which the opposition would play a singular role.

He so far eschewed attacking personalities, preferring instead policies and philosophies. He has extended the olive branch to his political enemies, Pak Lah in particular. Indeed, he did send word to those who attacked him at the UMNO general assembly that if they persist, he would be forced to, and that could well end their political careers. The attacks stopped. With each press conference and interview, he becomes more credible.

The Malaysian mainstream media ignores him when they can, limiting coverage to the barest minimum when they cannot. But he needs to take sight of his predicament: if he is surrounded by the same gang of aides and advisers when he fell, his first casualty would be his ground support. If he is forced into a political corner by these machinations, and if the BN is smart enough to encourage it, than he is in for more difficulties than the present euphoric wave for him would suggest.

[This is my column in Harakah, the PAS organ, published today, 02 November 2004]

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@streamyx.com