He’s won, he’s been sworn in and he’s now in parliament. What next?
On the net and in blogs I watched and read as so many rejoiced in Anwar’s win. Even KayTee put aside his grouses with DSAI and offered congratulations. I would, too, if I thought DSAI’s win was the beginning of a new dawn. I do see his win as the potential of a new dawn - but nothing’s been set in stone, yet. We have, till the 16th of September, another 14 days or so to go. The fat lady hasn’t sung and there’s no call to bring out the champagne yet, I feel. No, I will not celebrate or congratulate DSAI till he’s firmly in power, and firmly in control of parliament.
Because we need to all understand something, I feel: DSAI’s back in Permatang Pauh on the tide of many factors. And a large one of them is our own discontent with the government. DSAI has promised change, and has expressed the aspirations of the rakyat who want this change most effectively. Till now, till this day, I think we can only - only - conclude that DSAI’s rhetoric has captured the imagination of the disenfranchised in our country, fueled by the most part by the sudden, unexpected possibility of change and the elation we feel.
Action, not words, is what we need.
The people of Permatang Pauh have done what has been asked of them; they have set aside scepticism and have taken a chance on a maybe, that maybe things will get better. I hope to God DSAI doesn’t betray that trust. Since April this year, when the restriction on his involvement in political office expired, Anwar Ibrahim has been at the forefront of a rigorous campaign on the wave of a dream of a better Malaysia. The pressure is now on Anwar to prove his political credentials once more and to secure a parliamentary majority, in order to fulfill that dream.
In the meantime, Nat’s discussed the options UMNO has in hand on Malaysiakini, a bit of which I was thinking about in a previous post. I do agree that a splintered Barisan Nasional translates to a small chance of a concerted effort to move against Anwar Ibrahim. When you add that up with the UMNO practice of taking orders from the top, the fact that Badawi finds himself floundering for a firm footing removes the probability of there being a steady and rational chain of decisions descending from the Prime Minister. What, I think, we can’t overlook is that the factionalism arising from UMNO’s losses and four years of Badawi’s weak leadership might also encourage wannabe Princes to take matters into their own hands.
This and the collapse of the entire government are unknown quantities. I’m still waiting to see what will happen.