The Last Straw

Is Anwar Ibrahim a reformist? Khoo Kay Peng Aug 15, 2008 - Malaysiakini Anwar Ibrahim is not just a politician. He is a politician who has made the biggest impact in the history of Malaysian politics. What others had tried but failed, to make a dent on BN's armour, Anwar has succeeded in making the coalition looking afraid and fragile. Today, almost all of the main component parties in BN are facing a grim outlook of being rendered irrelevant especially those which claimed to represent the minorities. It is not inaccurate to say that none of these parties are reviewing their position in the coalition at present moment. The question is will the Anwar's prosecution be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. There are a few critical concerns which faced these parties. First, Abdullah's eroding popularity is a key concern despite his reiteration to commit to his reform agenda. At the moment, his fellow partners in BN are not sure if the power transition was brokered as an effort to allow Abdullah to ease the pressure on him to step down. His deputy Najib Razak, himself besieged by another controversy, was ready to accept the plan because he needed the time to ride through his own storm. Unfortunately, the overt eagerness of the authorities to press charges against Anwar has implicated both leaders. Abdullah is seen as playing the same lead role like Dr Mahathir in the first sodomy case against Anwar. Najib had openly admitted to meeting Mohd Saiful at his residence before the latter lodged a police report against Anwar. Both leaders have challenged Anwar to take a voluntary DNA test and to make an Islamic swearing to clear his name, knowing how easy religion can be politicised in Malaysia. Apparently, some pundits claimed that Anwar's reluctance to do the swearing has affected his credibility but survey results showed that only 11 percent of the respondents believed he committed the crime. PAS, his Islamic partner in the newly minted People's Alliance coalition, is backing him, although some of its leaders who were worried about the allegations got involved in a Malay-Muslim unity dialogue with Umno to hedge their bets. ...more http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinions/87843