THE Port Dickson move, like or loathe it, is in its final stages. In a few weeks, Anwar Ibrahim will either enter Parliament, awaiting his ascension to prime minister, or watch his attempt for the premiership blocked for the umpteenth time.

It’s one of those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of situations. If he remains quiet, he may lose clout as junior politicians grow into their ministerial positions, even those from his own party. As the only party leader in the Pakatan Harapan coalition without an important position in cabinet or leading a state government, this is a pretty big political risk.

If he doesn’t remain quiet, he would face the exact backlash he is seeing now – people feeling put off by the hurried nature of his “forced” entry into government.

Yes, there was a succession plan.

Yes, he is the undisputed successor of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But no, it is not a “do or die, must-do-now” situation.

To say otherwise would be to challenge the basic intelligence of the average Malaysian, to cast doubt upon the capabilities of every single Pakatan Harapan cabinet member, which includes his wife, the deputy prime minister, and to question the integrity of every PH MP, including his daughter and Permatang Pauh MP, Nurul Izzah.

Hence, the flimsy excuses – to lead parliamentary reform? Meaning the other MPs are there to defend Barisan Nasional’s way of doing things? Or have no idea what to do without Anwar?

To develop Port Dickson? Does that infer that, not only does controlling both the state and federal governments not suffice, but that even the MP who vacated the seat for him did not have much development plans in place? If every seat requires a sitting PM or DPM to develop it, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor would still be river settlements.

Supporters of the plan generally point to a few things in defence of the Port Dickson move.

A common defence would be to draw a favourable comparison with the Kajang move, in which there was significantly less resistance to than this one. The comparison, may, however, be flawed. The official reason for the Kajang move seemed clearer than this new manoeuvre.

Even then, the goalposts did shift a few times in Kajang – from putting in Anwar to strengthen a Selangor that was widely perceived to be under attack from the previous administration, to moving Wan Azizah in to hold the position in case Anwar was convicted, to removing a corrupt Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (who Anwar praised during the by-election) and replacing him with a clean MB, to supporting the sultan’s eventual appointment of Azmin Ali.

This time, there is no risk of attack from any weakened party in the opposition bloc. In fact, the position is quite reversed, with an increasingly solid Pakatan coalition gaining experience at handling the ropes and the grassroots machinery given a shot in the arm and, slowly but surely, piecing together a juggernaut that would give BN or any upcoming coalition a run for its money. The seat in question is not a high-risk seat either, with a rather comfortable margin and a healthy MP.

Pakatan and Port Dickson are, therefore, quite safe. If anything, a comparison with Kajang, which somewhat left a dent in the credibility of Pakatan strategies and affected the relationship between the state government and palace, should serve to discourage any similar political missteps.

Anwar will almost surely win in Port Dickson. His opponents are generally four lightweights and of the two serious contenders, one lacks experience and the other credibility.

The position of MP for Port Dickson is quite in the bag for Anwar. His next steps, however, will seal his fate as 8th prime minister.

Given the PR gaffes and miscalculations in the past months, a slow and steady transition of power could be what the PKR family needs right now. – October 2, 2018.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.