Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
Not many are aware, that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s attendance at the PKR retreat yesterday was meant to warn party president Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim to resign and make way for Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali to take over. Not only did Azmin’s no-show stick out like a sore thumb, I was told, the PKR deputy chief was cautioned by Mahathir himself not to attend and to keep Members of Parliament aligned to him away at all cost.
Why did Mahathir do that?
He was on a mission.
For several months, Anwar and his wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, repeatedly expressed confidence in a premiership succession agreement that Anwar insists was signed. However, not only has Mahathir’s son rubbished the claim, several factions from team Mahathir have since hinted that Anwar can forget about his premiership ambitions, with one even going so far as to claim that the next in line is Azmin, not Anwar. But that’s besides the point.
The point is, when someone keeps repeating his (or her) confidence in something like a broken tape recorder, it simply means that he (or she) is not confident. In Anwar’s case, his repeated expression of ‘faith’ fuelled suspicion that he was planning a coup and prompted his supporters to pressure Mahathir into laying out an exit plan. But instead of quashing suspicion, Anwar breathed more life into it by insisting that he commanded the majority support of parliamentarians and was qualified to become Prime Minister.
So, when Mahathir suddenly showed up at the retreat and received a warm reception, a message was delivered. The message was, “Anwar, you don’t have the numbers, so it’s clear who’s in control.” But it wasn’t until Mahathir told the retreat to “be wary of opportunists” that the real warning was issued. And the warning is, “Anwar, I have a job to do, so back off.”
“One more move from you and I’ll finish you off.”
So Anwar lied about having numbers?
You think I’ve been lying to you all this while?
PPBM is less than half the size of PKR in terms of parliamentary representation. Anwar is the president of PKR, while Mahathir is only the chairman of PPBM. Yet, not only has Anwar yet to contest Mahathir for the role of Pakatan Harapan “top dog,” he applauded along with his supporters as the Prime Minister gallantly walked into his party event and told everyone to “back off.
Tell me, if Anwar did command the majority support of parliamentarians, would he have allowed this to happen? Would he have allowed Mahathir to interfere in PKR’s internal affairs despite knowing that Mahathir favours Azmin over him as heir apparent? Would I dare tell you openly that Anwar got his men to falsify Statutory Declarations with the intent of deceiving Members of Parliament (MPs) and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if it weren’t true?
Why did Mahathir tell Azmin to stay clear?
Like I said, Anwar miscalculated his command in PKR when hinting that Azmin should resign. He thought he could frighten pro-Azmin MPs to his side before staging a coup to oust Mahathir. But the plan backfired. Not only were the majority of PKR MPs pissed, they accused Anwar of being “ungrateful” and were no longer convinced that he would honour his promises to them once he became Prime Minister.
READ: RJ Rithaudeen: Two MP’s close to Anwar told me they’re ashamed of him
As a result, Azmin ended up becoming the biggest winner despite having starred in a sex video featured even by a world-famous lewd site. Not only does he practically ‘own’ PKR, he didn’t need to waste time attending the retreat as doing so would only mean Mahathir’s warning was also intended for him. By staying away, the message to Anwar was crystal clear. As a matter of fact, it was a show of power by team Mahathir-Azmin and a signal to the rakyat that “Anwar’s days in Malaysian politics is over.”
Does this mean Anwar should resign?
Bingo!
That was the other message that got delivered yesterday. If Anwar is not as stupid as I think he is, he should be able to read between the lines. If I were in his position, I would be so humiliated that a man I hate so much came into my house and warned me off in full view of my family and neighbours. And that, too, after I told everyone that I would finish the man off very, very soon. Mahathir wants Azmin to take over PKR as soon as possible and will never risk keeping Anwar around much longer. He knows Anwar like the back of his palm and is well aware that the latter will never stop plotting until the end of days.
So, if Anwar doesn’t buzz off in the next couple of weeks, perhaps even days, his goose is gonna get cooked big, big time.
