ONE hundred and twelve days have passed since Perikatan Nasional hijacked Putrajaya and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn into office. During this period, Anwar Ibrahim has cautiously refrained from taking Muhyiddin to task over the lawlessness of his administration.

However, when it comes to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar has not quite maintained that same silence. Why the difference? 

Yes, one certainly can’t deny that the two statesmen aren’t exactly best friends. In fact, it’s no secret that their relationship has been mostly rocky the past few decades.

But, at the same time, it is also undeniable that for all of Dr Mahathir’s failings – and there are countless – the nonagenarian has still chosen the difficult route of standing by the people’s mandate. In the aftermath of the Sheraton Move, he has stood firm in opposing Muhyiddin, who treacherously turned on Pakatan Harapan and betrayed his closest allies.  

As for Anwar, reports have been circulating of his meetings with Muhyiddin himself and Hamzah Zainuddin, current home affairs minister and secretary-general of Bersatu.  

These meetings have caused some concern and uneasiness – could the unthinkable be possible, that Anwar is negotiating a deal with Muhyiddin in his bid to recapture Putrajaya and resurrect Pakatan? What is his agenda for meeting some of the key architects responsible for engineering PH’s downfall?

In light of PKR rejecting Dr Mahathir as PH’s candidate for prime minister, would Anwar really do whatever it takes to shore up support as long as Dr Mahathir is kept out of the limelight, including accepting PH trojan horses and PN leaders?

Furthermore, Kedah PKR chief Johari Abdul has also confirmed that the party leadership has decided to allow Anwar free rein in approaching whoever he wishes if it aids him in his quest to reclaim the federal government. In Johari’s own words, “He (Anwar) met with many people, except Najib Razak.” 

Given that Anwar has remained tight-lipped about what transpired during those meetings, one can only speculate. However, speculation alone gets us nowhere. Moreover, PKR vice-president Chang Lih Kang has come forth to allay fears of PKR backdealing with PN and reassured its allies that any arrangements are always subject to PH’s unanimous approval.  

So, let’s not jump the gun and assume the worst of Anwar. For Anwar isn’t just any man, and it wouldn’t be fair or just to compare him to the likes of Dr Mahathir. Unlike Anwar, Dr Mahathir has never tasted the prison life and 11 years at that, for what many believe to have been politically motivated charges. 

Irrefutably, the man of sorrows has suffered beyond what most of us could ever humanly imagine, and has been very much shaped by his long years in jail. 

The reality is this – both PN and PH have been scrambling to obtain enough numbers to secure a strong parliamentary majority. Therefore, Anwar meeting various PN and Sarawak leaders shouldn’t strike us as something suspicious as PH simply doesn’t have sufficient support at the moment. 

Like it or not, the fact remains that for PH to return to power and prevent Sheraton 2.0, it would need more than just a few MPs from the opposing bloc to cross over. 

This need to further strengthen support could also be the same reason why Anwar hasn’t come down hard on Muhyiddin. His restraint in criticising the latter could simply boil down to not wanting to throw out the possibility of Bersatu rejoining PH.

Anwar, we know you’re a fighter. We believe that you wouldn’t just casually abandon your long-held principles for power. Come what may, we hope that you will never lose the spirit of reformasi you first stirred up in us so long ago. 

You once said, “Allah is my witness. I will not be silent. I will never surrender”. So, for as long as you keep fighting for a better Malaysia, Malaysians and your PH allies will fight for you and alongside you. – June 21, 2020.

* Lara Ling reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.