The entire strategy for the success of Pakatan Harapan depends on Kit Siang being able to convince Mahathir and Anwar to agree to a pact. And for this pact to happen Kit Siang must be able to convince both Mahathir and Anwar that they can trust each other. Then the Malay voters must be made to believe that Mahathir and Anwar have buried the hatchet and no longer hold any grudges or have any animosity against each other.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Nurul Izzah Anwar’s recent trip to London as Lim Kit Siang’s emissary or duta was to meet Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and offer him the post of interim Prime Minister on condition that the old man agrees that his first task as interim PM would be to apply for a pardon for Anwar. That was actually a ruse. They know if Mahathir becomes the interim PM he would never let go and he would turn the post of interim PM into the post of permanent PM. So there is no way Mahathir can be allowed to become interim PM.
Furthermore, Kit Siang and Anwar Ibrahim have already agreed that Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will be the interim PM while waiting for Anwar to be released from jail. However, they need Mahathir to help oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Umno and Barisan Nasional. So Mahathir must be made to believe that he and not Wan Azizah will be the interim PM. So this is merely a game of deception that they are playing to make Mahathir go along with the plan. No one will trust Mahathir with the post of interim PM but he must be made to believe they do trust him by inserting the condition that he will be responsible for making sure that Anwar receives a pardon.
Kit Siang’s ‘Grand Design’ is simple. First assume that Mahathir and Anwar can be made to believe they can trust each other. Second, assume that the Malay voters can be made to believe that Mahathir and Anwar have kissed and made up.
The entire strategy for the success of Pakatan Harapan depends on Kit Siang being able to convince Mahathir and Anwar to agree to a pact. And for this pact to happen Kit Siang must be able to convince both Mahathir and Anwar that they can trust each other. Then the Malay voters must be made to believe that Mahathir and Anwar have buried the hatchet and no longer hold any grudges or have any animosity against each other.
Kit Siang realises that this is the last chance for him, his son Guan Eng, and DAP. If they miss this general election then there is no longer any future for him, his son, and his party. He cannot hope if they do not make it this general election then they can try again in the next general election. It is either this general election or nothing at all. And this is why Kit Siang is getting very desperate.
However, Kit Siang knows his ‘Grand Design’ is not perfect because it hinges on him being able to convince Mahathir and Anwar to trust each other. So there are many flaws in his plan because that is the most difficult thing on earth to do. And chances are Pakatan Harapan will not last and will disintegrate even before the next general election.
And that is why Kit Siang has a done a U-turn on the RoS matter. If he thought Pakatan Harapan was guaranteed then he would tell the RoS to go to hell. But now he cannot do that in case Pakatan Harapan fails (like Barisan Alternatif and Pakatan Rakyat before this: both which failed because of DAP) and they need to fall back on DAP. So now DAP is softening their stand and is listening to RoS.
The window is rapidly closing and by 2020 it will have closed totally. And, as they say, a dying man clutches at straw. And this is why Kit Siang is clutching at straw and is hoping that the impossible can become possible. And getting Mahathir and Anwar onto the same page and to trust each other unreservedly is taking straw-clutching to the peak. Getting Mahathir and Anwar to trust each other unreservedly is like trying to bring the Arctic and the Antarctic to meet at the Equator.
Kit Siang must be raving mad or maybe he thinks the Malays are. Definitely Kit Siang does not understand Malay culture and Malay politics. Ma’af to the Malays is a two-way street. You must both give and ask ma’af. And if there is no two-way ma’af then the finality is a kerisin the belly. No self-respecting anak jantan, which is very important to the Malays, would kowtow to a mortal enemy. If you do then you would be regarded as an eunuch or what Malays would call takde telur.
For the ma’af to be valid Mahathir and Anwar must salam in public and utter the words ‘saya minta ma’af….etc., etc., etc.’….and both must say this. And they must look each other in the eyes as they do this. They cannot look away or look elsewhere. If not then this means we will settle this another day in a duel to the death.
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