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It has often been said that adversity brings out the best in us. We have read or witnessed how some great men and women achieved lasting fame by leading their countries, communities or companies out of desperate situations and extreme danger with their unwavering will and leadership skills.
Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr, Abraham Lincoln, and Mohandas K Gandhi are celebrated and considered among the greatest human beings to ever live, primarily due to their leadership under extreme adversity.
The year 2020, despite being an annus horribilis for most of the world, provided the golden opportunity for such great men and women to rise to the challenge and navigate the world through these turbulent and burdensome times.
However, unfortunately, this opportunity was largely rejected. In fact, it has only brought out the worst in leaders and exposed emperors naked in government, business, sports, and politics.
Even in a year in which the standard of leadership has dropped to a historic nadir, it must be admitted that Pakatan Harapan (PH) Supreme Anwar Ibrahim has stood out above all others – truly a giant in the land of the Lilliputians when it comes to leadership. incompetence.
From the implosion of the PH government in February to the crushing budget defeat in December, the PKR chief’s catalog of self-flagellations, own comic goals and mistakes requires a series of multi-volume books to chronicle.
Despite being warned by political analysts and wiser allies, he blindly hoped that Dr. Mahathir Mohamad would fulfill his promise of succession to the prime minister.
And despite Mahatir’s Machiavellian attempts to weaken and divide the PKR, delaying tactics, and evasion on the handover date, like a fool, Anwar continued to fully trust the notorious nonagenarian prime minister, right up until the moment when the PH government collapsed.
Then, after months of eerie radio silence, he came out of his cave and dramatically declared that he had the support of a “strong, formidable and convincing majority” among parliamentarians to form the next government.
That this happened in the midst of a raging Covid-19 pandemic crisis and in total defiance of the King’s directive to politicians not to create political instability did not seem to concern him.
His highly publicized audience with the King lasted a mere 25 minutes before he was shown the door.
In the subsequent press conference, he claimed to have unequivocally demonstrated to the king that he had a clear parliamentary majority to form the next government.
It turned out to be another own goal, as I was unaware, Istana Negara had already issued a statement, saying that Anwar simply claimed to have majority support without substantiation.
Furthermore, it was later learned that in order to gain the necessary support, Anwar had betrayed his own principles and also his allies within PH by trying to build an alliance with a group of disgraced Umno deputies who were involved in numerous corruption cases.
During all that time, he had also kept his political allies in the dark about his secret deals and plans.
Unsurprisingly, the entire tragicomic drama soon fell apart and to say that he came out of this affair looking like a fool would be a very charitable observation.
Rejection of the 2021 budget
The stench of this unfortunate episode barely dissipated when the waiting prime minister appeared with another equally far-fetched plan.
He heroically declared that he planned to overthrow the ruling government by rejecting the 2021 Budget to be presented in the November parliamentary session.
Unsurprisingly, despite the sheer stupidity and improbability of the plan, Anwar’s regime change sent PH supporters into a stasis.
This resulted in a lot of publicity being generated on social media and some local media in the lead up to the parliamentary session.
The result was another total and utter humiliation of Olympic proportions.
By the time Anwar realized that his political opponents within the ruling government had deftly played him to get better concessions from the prime minister, the game was over.
If a football team loses 0-29 to its closest rival in the biggest game of the season after confidently promising a convincing victory, the team manager can be expected to be unceremoniously sent off and players to be out of work. shortly after.
The team manager or players are unlikely to find another job in soccer and have to move on to less glamorous careers as concert workers or hamburger fans.
Unfortunately, Anwar Ibrahim is not an Abraham Lincoln. To begin with, it was a move of astonishing idiocy and a monumental mistake.
Rebuilding a bruised coalition
Due to infighting and tensions within the ruling coalition (Perikatan Nasional), the next general elections (GE15) are likely to be held in the first quarter of 2021.
The Anwar and PH parties are better off rebuilding their shattered and bruised coalition in preparation for GE15 rather than trying to hijack the government amid a raging pandemic.
Why rush to form a new government through the back door and unethical machinations when they can wait a few more months to form a democratically elected government?
Even if the attempt had been successful, it would have been difficult to form a stable government under such circumstances. Much valuable time would have been wasted in forming a new cabinet and bringing in new ministers with their portfolios.
Meanwhile, the pandemic would have gotten out of control killing thousands, while the stock market and economy would have been plunged by investors fleeing due to political instability and infighting.
It is also almost certain that the government would devote much of its time and energy to defending itself against the incessant attacks by its political opponents to regain power.
Anwar has proven time and time again to be an incompetent leader at the party and coalition level, and as such, he is unlikely to ever succeed as Malaysia’s prime minister.
His own party, PKR, is synonymous with political chaos and disunity. PH and PKR supporters often blame Azmin Ali for causing the split in PKR and the subsequent fall of the PH government. But the truth is very different.
While he may not win many awards in popularity contests among Malaysians, the way Anwar treated him after his years of unwavering loyalty to the ex-DPM and the party was a case of ingratitude at its worst.
In 2018, with Anwar’s full support (and probably instigation), several PKR leaders carried out perhaps the most shameful political campaign in the nation’s history to prevent Azmin from becoming the party’s vice president.
No dirty tactics or clandestine methods were spared as the party’s electoral committee simply stared, allowing the blatant shenanigans to take place without obstruction.
In the end, and against all odds, Azmin won, but the schism between leaders No. 1 and No. 2 in the party became permanent, ultimately leading to the collapse of the PH government.
Faustian treatment
However, it would be a mistake to point the finger at Anwar alone. The other PH leaders also did not leave 2020 smelling of roses.
I have written about Mahathir many times in the past, including one entitled “Pakatan’s Regression to Mahatirism,” in which he had argued vigorously against PH reaching a Faustian deal with the arch-villain of Malay politics.
As such, I will refrain from repeating PM7’s destructive boot marks on the country’s democracy, economy, race relations, and politics.
Let’s move on to DAP. They are unrecognizable to the party that had produced such intrepid and uncompromising lions of democracy, such as Karpal Singh and P Patto.
The party has transformed from the tiger vanguard of democratic principles to a fat and spoiled Chihuahua addicted to the life of luxury and power.
During his 22 months in power, none of the top DAP leaders acted or spoke with his conscience. Instead, they abandoned their own principles and the constituents they had fought for decades against, sacrificing them to cling to their newly acquired wealth and positions in government.
Even after the collapse of the PH government in the wake of the Sheraton Move, they continued to support Mahathir as their choice for the post of PM, even though he was the root cause of all the nation’s ills and troubles.
As Anwar frolicked with the Umno MPs, the DAP elite once again maintained their graceful silence, no doubt secretly praying that this would allow them to regain lost monetary benefits and government posts.
Only now, long after the horses have escaped, do Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and other DAP leaders issue statements preaching about “principles,” “reboot,” “new leadership,” and the immorality of courting “kleptocrats.” ”.
Let’s face the brutal fact of realpolitik – PH is dead – that they will be hit deeply by PN at GE15 is a foregone conclusion. They will lose most, if not all, of the gains made at GE14.
We can expect Amanah to be completely annihilated, while many of the PKR leaders will lose their seats with the parties themselves reduced to political zombies.
The fact is, PH is sleeping walking into a political and eventually irrelevant bloodbath. If this happens, it would spell a democratic disaster for the country.
PH needs to wake up to the fact that playing by the rules set by PN can only lead to one result, his annihilation. What they need is not just a reboot, but nothing short of creative destruction.
Forget ethnic and regional political tactics. Start over, form a new association with progressive-minded people, regardless of their political background.
There are many capable and clean leaders within the PN who are uncomfortable with the direction of their parties.
Forming an entirely new platform to unite all these leaders and offer Malaysia new hope and direction, free from today’s narrow ethnic and regional template and the shackles of the past.
Kit Siang often talks about saving Malaysia. What we need now is to save Malaysia from ancient dinosaurs like Kit Siang, who have failed us time and time again.
Give us a new generation of young, capable and progressive leaders who can appeal to all Malaysians. They may stumble and fall, but I am sure they will learn from these mistakes, rise up, and lead us to a brighter and better future.
Long live Malaysia!
Calvin Sankaran is an FMT reader.
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
