“Azmin knows very well that DZ masterminded the sexcapade. But he also knows that Mahathir will support him as long as he does what he is told. Now that he commands the majority support of PKR MPs, it would be stupid of him to train his guns at DZ. It follows, the time will come when Azmin will suddenly announce his desire to become PKR president and call for a vote of no confidence against Anwar”
Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
In Malaysia, if you want to become a political legend, all you need to do is earn the title of Machiavellian or humiliate yourself with a sex scandal. In case you opt for the latter, you’d first have to make sure that the sex is against the order of nature. Then, you need to get a Machiavellian to throw you in jail to split the Malay-Muslims like a banana in ice cream.
Is that what happened in 1998?
Something like that lah.
I’m sure three quarters of you out there already know what happened. But then, every picture can be painted in a hundred different shades, each having a different impact on the admirer. So, for the purpose of this article, I’m going to give the picture a brand new shade in hopes that the shade brings along with it a new plot point. With that, let us revisit 1998 Malaysia all over again and sum up key events that led to Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking from UMNO and the Government of Malaysia (GoM).
Ok, why was Anwar sacked?
Months ahead of the 1998 Merdeka celebration, Tun (then Dato’ Seri) Dr Mahathir Mohamad discovered that Anwar had contrived a coup plot to throw him under the bus. Seeing that his (then) deputy was desperate to become Prime Minister, he got his men from Bukit Aman to pry on the latter’s affairs and unearthed some evidence related to a sex scandal. He then used that evidence to sack Anwar from government and twisted the arms of judiciary to throw him in jail.
That’s the long and short of it, though, Anwar’s homosexuality wasn’t the real reason Mahathir wanted him gone. Fact is, Anwar, who also was the Minister of Finance, deliberately sabotaged a bailout package that Mahathir had arranged for his son. The sabotage caused Mirzan Mahathir to attempt suicide and nearly drove Tun Dr Siti Hasmah off her rocker. I am told, Siti threw a tantrum at home and insisted that Anwar needed to go come hell or high water.
That’s not all.
Mahathir also wanted Anwar gone because the latter had colluded with Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several other UMNO leaders to put a spoke in his (Mahathir’s) wheel. During an UMNO delegates’ conference, Anwar openly accused Mahathir of nepotism and cronyism in hopes that the bulk of delegates would support him. But the move backfired when Mahathir got the press to front-page the names of Malay-Muslims who benefited from privatisation and government contracts.
It didn’t shock anyone that Mahathir’s son Mokhzani was listed as beneficiary. But because Anwar and Zahid had openly accused Mahathir of cronyism and nepotism, the appearance of Zahid’s name alongside the names of Anwar’s family members pissed the hell out of everyone. Anwar tried very hard to rationalise his family’s involvement but failed miserably at every juncture. By front-paging the names, Mahathir successfully killed Anwar’s future in UMNO and began planning his ‘execution’ with Bukit Aman.
Not long after, following Merdeka celebrations, Anwar got the sack and wound up in jail.
And the Malays became split?
Of course.
Anwar’s ‘execution’ fuelled a reformist movement led by his wife, Dain Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. The movement attracted a sizeable number of moderates and fundamentalists who wanted Mahathir gone by hook or by crook. When Mahathir did eventually step down – on his own terms, of course – Wan Azizah rebranded the movement and called it a “war against Mahathirism,” a cancer she insisted was still plaguing UMNO. Following the 2004 general election, reformasi was less “Anwar vs Mahathir” and more “PKR vs UMNO.” By 2008, however, the Malays were so split, it was no longer about PKR or UMNO but “anything Anwar vs anything Barisan Nasional.”
How does this compare to what’s happening today?
In a previous article, I spoke of how times have changed. Mahathir wants to get rid of Anwar because the latter is up to his old tricks again. But the Prime Minister knows, that if he does what he did in 1998, the majority of parliamentarians would go into frenzy and throw their weights behind Wan Azizah. So, killing Anwar off 1998 style is bad strategy and could bode badly for Mahathir and his men.
So the mission is to get someone else to ‘kill’ Anwar?
Correct.
Mahathir is a Machiavellian, and Machiavellians have criminal minds. Do you honestly think he did not foresee that Anwar would conspire with the DAP and key UMNO leaders to throw him under the bus? Mahathir went into GE14 with eyes wide open and made very obvious that Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali was his man. He deliberately pitted Azmin against Rafizi Ramli during the PKR election just to make sure Anwar would end up with a Mahathirist by his side. The move was meant to piss Anwar off and to keep him feeling constantly insecure.
Mahathir knows, that when Anwar feels insecure, he’ll do just about anything under the sun to remove that insecurity. Rumours began swirling that Mahathir favoured Azmin over Anwar as his successor and would find a way to end Anwar’s career. Actually, the rumours originated from Mahathir’s own vineyard and were designed to drive Anwar nuts. Mahathir knew that Anwar would try and hatch a coup plot with key UMNO leaders and deliberately piled charge after charge on these leaders.
Everything started falling in place right after the PKR election. Following Azmin’s triumph as party deputy president, Anwar was overcome by fear that Azmin would be his competitor in the race towards premiership. It was then that Anwar began hatching a coup plot to kick Mahathir out by May 2019. The DAP agreed to partake in that plot on condition that Anwar agreed to appoint a senior party leader as his deputy in government. Weeks later, several of Anwar’s most trusted associates began fabricating Statutory Declarations that bore the names of key UMNO, PKR and PPBM leaders.
The fake SDs?
Yes.
When Anwar’s men wanted to convince pro-Muhyiddin MPs to support him, they would furnish an SD purportedly signed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin himself. Likewise, they used Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s and Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak’s SDs to ‘buy’ the support of other MPs. When I published Zahid’s and Muhyiddin’s SDs side by side, many MPs realised they had been duped and began signing retraction and self-protection SDs. It has been agreed upon by all quarters that these SDs will only surface should Anwar decide to meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and request to be made Prime Minister.
So Anwar does not have the numbers?
Read the following articles (read them first before proceeding with this one):
READ: Anwar-Azmin crisis: The hidden endgame and the future of UMNO
READ ALSO:Anwar tidak mempunyai sokongan majoriti, malah sebilangan penyokongnya beralih kem Azmin
Not only does Anwar not have the numbers, the majority of Sarawak and Sabah MPs are no longer with him. They may even tell him and each other that they’re with him, but that’s all political at best. I assure you, their commitment towards “Anything But Anwar Ibrahim” (ABAI) was carved in granite on Sunday for reasons beyond the scope of this article. Ask Anwar to obtain fresh SDs from these MPs and you will see what I mean.
What about PKR, is Anwar still in control?
No.
Mahathir wanted Azmin to win the PKR deputy presidency for a reason. He wanted Azmin to become the next Anwar Ibrahim (hereinafter referred to as Anwar 2.0) so that pro-Anwar MPs would shift their allegiance towards him. For this reason, Mahathir got a member of his camp (hereinafter referred to as “DZ”) to mastermind the Sandakan sexcapade to implicate Anwar and his men of conspiracy. To better appreciate how this was achieved and how much money was involved, read the article below before proceeding with this one:
READ HERE: RJ Rithaudeen: Yang ditangkap sebenarnya mereka yang diperdaya Haziq, bukannya “the main mastermind”
On the 19thof July 2019, I wrote:
It doesn’t really matter who the grand mastermind is as Anwar and his men did eventually get involved. If I were to plan a murder and get you to commit the murder, you can’t turn around and tell the judge that you’re innocent just because I planned it. So you see, one way or the other, Anwar and his men will be implicated because they did get themselves involved in the sexcapade.
I then added:
Mahathir knows as well as the better half of “everyone who knows Azmin” does that the latter gets panicky and overemotional when confronted with crisis situations. He probably knew that Azmin would publicly bitch about Anwar and what it would cost PKR. Why do you think Mahathir is defending Azmin? He knows that Anwar also tends to get overemotional and would be terribly upset that he got a different kind of treatment back in 1998.
READ FULL STORY HERE TO DISCOVER WHY MANY PKR MPs ARE ANGRY WITH ANWAR
If you were to comb through these articles, you’d understand why the majority of PKR MPs are no longer with Anwar. As a matter of fact, several DAP MPs have noticed just how pissed the Anwarists are with Anwar for not defending Azmin. Prior to the sexcapade, many sided Anwar as they felt Mahathir was a risk not worth taking due to his old age. But now that Azmin is in control, they no longer have that fear, particularly since Mahathir himself gave a clear indicator that Azmin will take over as PKR president.
When did Mahathir give that indicator?
Read the article below, I’ve explained it there:
READ: Mahathir wants Anwar to resign as PKR president asap
So Azmin is now Anwar 2.0?
Correct.
In 1998, Mahathir sacked Anwar for engaging in sex against the order of nature and got the then Inspector General of Police (IGP) to throw him under the bus. As I previously said, Anwar’s ‘execution’ fuelled a reformist movement that attracted a sizeable number of moderates and fundamentalists who wanted Mahathir gone. These Malays found Mahathir to be very ‘un-Islamic’, as Islam requires that there be four witnesses to corroborate an accusation involving adultery.
Today, however, Mahathir is ‘reformed’ and is throwing his weight behind Azmin because the four ‘witnesses’ have yet to show up. Anwar, on the other hand, has not ruled out Azmin’s guilt even though the latter was loyal and defended him the Islamic way. All this has turned Mahathir into ‘the most Islamic person’ among the trio and Anwar, the devil. Mahathir even got the new IGP to withhold naming Azmin as “the other individual in the sex video” until the four ‘witnesses’ show up. Does this not help turn Azmin into the ‘victim’ and Anwar, his tormentor?
Does that not make Azmin Ali the new Anwar Ibrahim and Anwar, the new Mahathir? In 1998, the moderates and fundamentalists fully supported Anwar and broke ranks with Malays who ‘refused’ to see how the devil (Mahathir) tormented the servant of Allah (Anwar). It split the Muslims so badly that it gradually allowed the DAP to gain control of government. Today, the same moderates and fundamentalists are seeing who the real devil is thanks to the same kind of sex that previously earned Anwar their admiration. Azmin is now the reason these Muslims are accepting Mahathir as the new reformist and are willing to ditch PKR at a moment’s notice.
And the IGP? Will he reveal the truth?
Should he?
Azmin knows very well that DZ masterminded the whole sexcapade. But he also knows that Mahathir will support him as long as he does what he is told. Now that he commands the majority support of PKR MPs, it would be stupid of him to train his guns at DZ. It follows, the time will come when Azmin will suddenly announce his desire to become PKR president and call for a vote of no confidence against Anwar.
And if Azmin doesn’t comply?
Mahathir will get the IGP to reveal that Azmin was Haziq’s partner in the sex video.
Are you Mahathir’s agent?
Someone asked me this yesterday. To that person, I said:
“If a tiger were to prowl in the bushes before charging on my wife and kills her, would I tell you a different story just because I hate tigers? Would I tell you that a kitty cat was prowling in the bushes before it charged on my wife and mauled her? Don’t ask stupid questions.”
Seriously, don’t ask stupid questions.
To be continued…
