DAP, rein in Anwar before he ‘kills’ reformasi By G Vinod

Malaysiakini : COMMENT | It’s becoming very obvious to all now, including Anwar Ibrahim’s own supporters, that the latter is a lacklustre leader. By his own admission, Anwar made it clear that he was not rushing into implementing reforms so as to not rock the boat too much.

And the Tambun MP had the audacity (or perhaps it’s lack of knowledge) to mention that he was doing so after “learning lessons from the French Revolution”. I will get to that later.

The problem with Anwar is that it has become apparent that he takes his support base for granted.For example, despite DAP having the most number of MP seats, they are given a lesser ministerial role compared to others, including Umno.

But we understand why that happened. Learning lessons from 2018, DAP decided against having a more ministerial role so as to not offer any points to the rightwing forces to attack Putrajaya. However, DAP must realise that they cannot and should not allow themselves to be taken for a ride, especially by Anwar when it comes to ensuring reforms are being implemented to safeguard the future generation.

As it is, I believe DAP is deliberately “underperforming” to ensure rightwing forces from PN and to some extent, those in the coalition government are not driven to each other to undermine Putrajaya. This is the sacrifice DAP is making for Anwar’s sake but what does the latter offer in return; he just ignores their grievances and panders to the rightwing forces.

And I believe DAP should no longer remain quiet about this. The more Anwar does this, the more he alienates Pakatan Harapan’s core base – which will affect DAP, particularly in the next general election. Harapan’s base consists of progressives and mostly non-Malays. They have consistently backed the coalition believing that Anwar and his team would embark on structural reforms that would push Malaysia forward in an uncertain geopolitical climate.

Looking in the wrong direction

But the problem with Anwar (ever since he became prime minister) is that he panders too much to win votes from those who would hardly back him, no matter what he does. Take for example, when he decided to deride an Indian female student for asking a genuine question on pursuing meritocracy in the education system.

Think about this. The girl and her family would have been Anwar’s supporters and voted for his coalition in the last general election. It turns out that the person they voted for to become prime minister decided to insult them in front of an audience over an important question about meritocracy. But the ones who clapped for Anwar are probably those who would never support him. Ponder on that for a moment to understand the man’s mindset.

Uncle Yap : Anwar has been a totally abysmal disappointment so far. When he started his reign by mouthing these infamous words "You must not spook the Malays" many astute observers instinctively knew Malaysians are in for a disenchantment and true enough ... not a single "reformasi", not a single positive change.

Initially, we were so encouraged by the mass sacking of political appointees in government and quasi-government bodies and shouted "Hooray!" but a few weeks later, it was back to square one ... today the UMNO cronies are laughing all the way to the bank.

Not a single election promise fulfilled - recognition of UEC, reduction/abolition of toll, abolition of monopolies, transparent award of tenders, etc etc Looks like same old same old The only disillusionment greater than Anwar's hypocrisy & duplicity is the meek surrender of the DAP, now a pale shadow of its crusading past

Read it all here......