ANWAR Ibrahim will still be a key figure in the opposition but time is running out for the PKR president to reinvent himself and remain relevant to the current struggle, say party insiders and analysts.

Several Pakatan Harapan (PH) lawmakers told The Malaysian Insight that Anwar is still very much the main choice to lead the pact as there is no one else in the opposition capable of replacing him.

“Of course, I still believe Anwar is the man who is fit to lead.

“By removing him, it is basically to act as substitute players in the Sheraton Move because that was their original intention (to remove Anwar),” a PKR leader told The Malaysian Insight on the condition of anonymity.

The PKR leader was referring to the power grab by the Muhyiddin Yassin-led Bersatu with Barisan Nasional and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which led to the fall of the PH government in February.

He said even in PKR, there is no one else who could lead if Anwar resigns as the second-tier leaders are not prepared to assume the mantle.

“There is no leader within PKR who is like Anwar and can command the respect like he does,” the PKR source said.

Lawmakers in DAP and Amanah, however, felt Anwar needs to have a solid plan for the opposition to move forward after the Budget 2021 blunder and his claims he had numbers to bring down Perikatan Nasional (PN).

“There needs to be a plan forward for Anwar. A lot of people have lost confidence in him after the events of the past few months,” another source said.

The DAP lawmaker said Anwar aligning himself with Umno was detrimental to some quarters in PH, which vehemently opposed any sort of cooperation with the party which is seen as its traditional enemy.

“He should stop flirting with Umno and focus on rebuilding the opposition. If there is an election, we are not prepared at all,” the source said.

What infuriated DAP leaders even more was the incident on Thursday, where Anwar allegedly barged into the MPs’ lounge in Parliament to berate DAP Senator Liew Chin Tong for allegedly having a hand in a joint statement issued by DAP and Amanah earlier.

“Anwar scolded Liew as he thought he was the one who drafted the statement but he didn’t know anything,” a source said.

The Malaysian Insight has tried to contact Liew for comments but to no avail.

On Thursday morning, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng issued a joint statement urging for a reset among the opposition and that Anwar should stop negotiations with government MPs.

Among the other considerations was to formalise ties with lawmakers from Warisan and Pejuang, who voted against Budget 2021 with PH the day before in Dewan Rakyat.

After the statement was released, the PH meeting for MPs, which was supposed to be held later in the day, was also cancelled as Anwar was enraged over his allies’ stand.

“The meeting was called off after the statement. It was unbecoming of the leaders to issue that kind of statement without consensus,” a PKR source told The Malaysian Insight.

DAP and Amanah leaders, however, felt the statement was not out of line as it was to re-emphasise the opposition’s stand after the crucial budget vote.

“Anwar could not control his anger, in actual fact we just wanted him to be a good opposition leader and not to fragment the opposition,” a source said.

According to analysts, Anwar still remains a strong force in the opposition but has to rejig himself fast to remain relevant.

Tasmania University’s Asian Studies professor James Chin said between Anwar and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the PKR leader was the most likely to remain as the head of the opposition.

“It is a question of how to repackage Anwar so that he can regain his credibility. If you look at the opposition, the only two with brand recognition are Anwar and Dr Mahathir.

“I think Anwar has very limited time to regain his credibility. The only chance for him to bring down Muhyiddin will be after the Chinese New Year celebrations next year.

“Between now and then, he really has to plot his way back. It is not going to be easy but he does have the political skills,” Chin told The Malaysian Insight.

He said DAP and Amanah also know PKR has no other leaders other than Anwar to propel the opposition to stand a fighting chance against PN in the next elections.

“The leadership of DAP and Amanah will try to work out a solution. If they push Anwar too far, they will not end up with anyone.

“They both realise that nobody in PKR is capable of taking over from Anwar,” he said.

Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun agreed, saying Anwar still remains the leader of the opposition as the closest contender for the post is Warisan’s Mohd Shafie Apdal, but he is not widely known.

“He (Anwar) survives as opposition by default until such time when they find a credible alternative, the closest being Shafie,” he said.

Oh also said even though Anwar is not well-liked in PH, he is instrumental in being a leader to unite the opposition against the ruling PN government.

“Anwar has never had much goodwill with anybody but his most diehard supporters. Due to his capricious character, he has always been a choice of convenience to rally those who are ideologically opposed to the ruling coalition.

“So unless DAP and Amanah could put forward somebody with similar political stature as Anwar, they are still stuck with him, as Dr Mahathir appears to have parted ways with PH,” Oh added. – December 19, 2020.