The Three Faces of Anwar Ibrahim

THE THREE FACES OF ANWAR IBRAHIM

Looking back on some of my files on Anwar Ibrahim, there have been many attempts to write about the sensational political life of Anwar Ibrahim the elected MP for Permatang Pauh and Opposition Leader in Malaysia's current Parliament. The current parliamentary sitting ends in April, 2013 under the leadership and governance of prime minister Najib Tun Razak when he took over the reign from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the most crucial time of Malaysia's political future in April, 2009.

In this topic entitled "the three faces of Anwar Ibrahim" it is my intention to focus on Anwar's political future based on the readings of his changing faces over the last few years, from the time he was dismissed by Tun Dr. Mahathir who was also responsible to bring Anwar into the government in the late 70s. The first face of Anwar Ibrahim had been dealt with during his political formation years in heading the ABIM (Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement) which he had built up together with some of the notable leaders like Sanusi Junid and Prof. Nawawi Ghazali. Anwar  is a "Fire Pig" in the Chinese zodiac and is highly ambitious though a risk taker in whatever he does as long as he gets to the final destination of his chosen career. Anwar had very high hope that he could used ABIM to neutralize his position within the UMNO leadership when he was  brought into the fold of the party. However, as history dictates, Anwar had failed to garner sufficient support to wrest the powerful leadership of Tun Mahathir that had finally led to his political downfall in September 1998. The rest is history but Anwar's ambition to become the next prime minister is still glowing under the  current Najib administration in the face of the coming 13th general election expected before the end of this year.

The second face of Anwar Ibrahim is the continuation of Anwar's political struggle to capture Putrajaya based on his success in helping Pakatan Rakyat in caputring Sealngor, Perak, Penang and Kedah in the 2008 general election. Perak however was short life for Pakatan due to the power struggle between DAP and PKR which was eventually recaptured by Barisan Nasional after hardly one year of Pakatan's reign.
Politically speaking Anwar had lost political ground when former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was forced to hand over the UMNO leadership and government to Najib Tun Razak in April 2009. Najib was also Anwar's contemporary in UMNO politics and I had always believe that Anwar had lost his bid for the UMNO Presidency and the coveted post of prime minister even though Najib has yet to secure his own political mandate in UMNO. In the last few years, Najib has been able to consolidate his power in UMNO and most of his friends and also political enemies within the party had rallied solidly behind Najib, including the current deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin. Politically speaking, it's really Najib's gain with the continued strong support of Tun Dr. Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that will end Anwars's ambition to take over the coveted position as the 7th Malaysian prime minister after PRU13.

The third face of Anwar Ibrahim will see the gradual decline of Anwar's political leadership within the Pakatan, as the anointed leader that will further suffer due to the ongoing power struggle between PKR, DAP and PAS. It is very clear that Pakatan was only a political marriage by convenience since 2008 and they have yet to prove that they had been successful in heading the state administration of Perak, Penang and Kedah. Politically, only Kelantan under the rule of PAS remains strong but it is also expected to fall into the reign of BN as UMNO is getting stronger in the Northern Eastern State. There is very little opportunity for PKR, DAP and PAS to work on a concerted political platform in their quest to capture Putrajaya or even trying to retain their rule in Selangor and Kedah, which BN is expected to recapture the two important states.

Finally, Anwar Ibrahim will remain in the lull of Malaysia's next political power under the leadership of Najib Tun Razak. However, Anwar will not see his political demise in the coming years although he is in his mid 60s and much older than Najib, his number one political opponent. On the contrary and based on Anwar's ongoing legal tussles, he may have to serve his jail terms if convicted on his Sodomy II case with Saiful  Bahari and also some of the renewed corruption cases against him, that had involved the flow of large foreign political funds received from some of the notable NGOs from the Western power, US, Germany and Turkey.Anwar is the suspected prime mover of this espionage through his previous extensive networking with the foreign power when he was the former DPM and Finance Minister, especially through his CIA connection with the United States of America, which had been instrumental to overthrow the current BN government under the leadership of Najib Tun Razak, although our current bilateral relations with President Obama is expected to be stronger given the current US political situation to re-elect Obama for another term of office.