COMMENT Imagine Anwar Ibrahim securing air time and print space on TV3, Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times to unleash a damning accusation against a veteran Umno leader? This borders on the bizarre given the mechanics of Malaysian politics.

 

Archives would reveal that the only time the opposition leader had appeared on these Umno-linked media organisations is when he was on the receiving end of brickbats.

 

Therefore Anwar's claim of possessing "solid evidence" regarding how Daim Zainuddin, a close associate of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had allegedly abused his position as finance minister to amass wealth has ignited the speculation mills.

 

Adding fuel to the furnace is the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s swift response in wanting to secure the evidence from Anwar.

 

In previous cases, the MACC had been often accused of suffering from paralysis when it concerned allegations against ruling politicians, both serving and retired.

 

What is unraveling now is similar to the era of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, where the media was used to criticise Mahathir and his lieutenants, while their unflattering views were blacked out.

 

This had forced Mahathir to turn to Malaysiakini , for which he granted four interviews during that period, and later to blogging.

 

Needless to say, this was a standard operating procedure (SOP) of Mahathir himself, who had used the media to vilify his opponents, including Anwar, during his tenure as prime minister.

 

Of late, Mahathir has been critical of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, lashing out at his policies, leadership and even his brainchild, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

 

Eyebrows were raised when an Umno division deputy chief filed a police report against 1MDB and later lodged a complaint with the MACC.

 

It came as no surprise that the Umno man, Khairuddin Hassan ( right ), was also the publisher of the infamous book '50 reasons why Anwar cannot become prime minister', which lead to the then deputy premier's eventual downfall.

 

Battle lines redrawn

 

Despite being a decade short of turning a century old, Mahathir is still razor sharp in political manoeuvring.

 

And it will be perilous for the current prime minister to underestimate the former premier, who has perfected the art of dismantling political careers, from which Najib himself rose to power.

 

Mahathir's media circle comprising veteran newsmen such as Zainuddin Maidin ( left ) and A Kadir Jasin have also fired repeated salvos at Najib.

 

Kadir, who once spearheaded the News Straits Times Press, claimed that Najib has now secured the assistance of a prominent businessman to launch counterstrikes at Mahathir and Daim.

 

This businessman, he claimed, is so powerful that he could pick up his phone and instruct editors of the Umno-linked media to do his bidding.

 

Political pundits are also speculating on Anwar's role in this feud, noting that the battle lines could have been re-drawn.

 

In 2013, Anwar had mooted the idea of a national reconciliation at the height of religious and racial tensions, but this has since fizzled out.

                                                                                               

The question now is whether this is being rekindled in order to battle a common nemesis. And if so, what does Anwar stand to gain from this?

 

To quote the words of Mahathir himself, in politics, friends are not friends forever, and foes are not foes forever.

 

One thing is certain, Umno is en route to another major display of fireworks.