IF Anwar Ibrahim still wants to become prime minister, then the next general election is his do-or-die mission, said university mate Kamarazaman Yaakob.

“If the election is held next year, Anwar will be 75. If Pakatan Harapan fails to win, by the next election, he will be 80. His chances of becoming prime minister are getting slimmer,” he told The Malaysian Insight in an exclusive interview.

Kamarazaman – who now heads his own party, Parti Kuasa Rakyat – said people are inclined to retain in government the current Barisan Nasional leaders.

“What if the government led by Ismail (Sabri Yaakob) can get good results in the next election, while PH falters like it did in Malacca and Sarawak?”

Kamarazaman was close with Anwar, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Hishamuddin Rais and Yunus Ali when they were all students at Universiti Malaya in the 1970s.

Kamarazaman, who is elder brother to the prime minister, was detained together with Anwar in 1974, while both Hishamuddin and Yunus evaded arrest and sought refuge overseas.

The Parti Kuasa Rakyat pro tem president said based on polls’ performances in Malacca and Sarawak, neither PH nor PKR did well.

“Based on the recent election results in Malacca and Sarawak, PH and PKR’s performances are not encouraging. PKR suffered a crushing defeat in both polls. Their loss is massive.

“This may also indicate that the people want BN to continue governing.”

In Malacca, PH managed to win only five seats, while PKR lost in all 11 seats in which it stood. Meanwhile, BN won a whopping 21 out of 28 state seats.

In Sarawak, PH faced an even more crushing blow; with DAP winning a mere two seats from the seven it won in 2016. Amanah and PKR were wiped out.

Between Anwar and Zahid

Kamarazaman once bunked with Zahid, who is Umno president.

Kamarazaman, a staunch socialist in his younger days, said Anwar and Zahid progressed well in their political careers, but noted that both reached only up to deputy prime minister.

Anwar, then deputy prime minister, was sacked by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on claims of corruption and sodomy in 1998.

Zahid, who was deputy to then prime minister Najib Razak from 2015 to 2018, went down along with Barisan Nasional following a shocking defeat in GE14.

Zahid is currently facing 47 charges, of which 27 are for money laundering, 12 for criminal breach of trust and eight for corruption.

Kamarazaman said if Anwar and Zahid are given a shot at being prime minister, the former will make a better head of government than the latter.

“Each has shown their own abilities.

“Anwar, who had led the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia and was made deputy prime minister, has a network and is exposed to foreign countries.

“Being honest, though Anwar is an opposition member now and Zahid was my roommate, I think Anwar has more abilities compared to Zahid if measured in terms of abilities.”

Anwar came close to claiming the top post after forming an agreement with Dr Mahathir, following PH’s rise to power in 2018.

However, the agreement crumbled following Dr Mahathir’s decision to continue holding to the post and the subsequent fall of the PH government after the Sheraton Move in February 2020. – January 2, 2022.