ANALYSIS Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said on Tuesday that PKR deputy president Azmin Ali may be able to eclipse Anwar Ibrahim if he can ensure a Pakatan Harapan victory in the Sungai Besar by-election.

But is Azmin actually capable of replacing Anwar to lead the opposition, or will his ambition break this already fractured and fragile alliance?

The 51-year-old has built an image for himself as an aggressive and highly ambitious leader, climbing through PKR’s ranks to be a possible contender for the party’s presidency in 2014, and later manoeuvring himself into a favourable position to replace Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor menteri besar.

More recently, he’s been trying to flex his muscles as an election strategist. This includes approving Sarawak PKR’s decision to contest in five seats against DAP in the recent state polls, a move that proved disastrous for the opposition.

Despite this setback, Azmin is now allegedly negotiating to get PKR to contest the Sungai Besar by-election, claiming the party would fare better than Amanah or PAS in getting support from both Malays and Chinese voters.

While he might be perceived to be a power player in national politics, analyst Redzuan Othman says Azmin still has some big shoes to fill if he wants to lead the opposition.

“History has shown that only Anwar has been able to really unite the opposition. Even then there were things that he could not get them to agree on,” Redzuan told Malaysiakini.

Penang Institute fellow Wong Chin Huat however believes Azmin is currently unfit to fill the shoes of opposition leader.

“For now, Azmin has no personal moral authority to unite the opposition before GE14,” Wong said.

One of the obstacles the Gombak MP has to overcome he said, is the public, who have become cynical and disillusioned by the opposition due to their in-fighting and inability to forge solid alliances, as well as corruption scandals of their own.

To turn this around in his favour, Wong said Azmin must cultivate the image of a reformist.

“What he can do is to drive it with a clear agenda of reform. if he does so, the middle ground voters will get excited, and other factions and parties in the opposition will have to pledge support to him,” the analyst said.

Analyst: Azmin mostly misunderstood

Universiti Malaya professor Awang Azman Awang Pawi concurs that Azmin needs to build a better image for himself, but said the PKR veteran was mostly misunderstood.

“The perception is that Azmin is too aggressive and ambitious. But you have to understand that he has gone through many political challenges from Anwar’s rise and fall in BN and the formation of PKR.

“Not many are as resilient as him, and his demeanour had been shaped by these ups and downs, which made him firm, aggressive, and with a vision that is sometimes not understood by his own party members, especially the newer ones,” Awang Azman said.

The pundit also concurred with Zaid that Sungai Besar will be the testing ground for Azmin’s ability to unite the opposition even if it means making compromises with PAS.

Awang Azman however is confident that sooner or later, the opposition will have to accept the leadership of Azmin, whom he says has proven his abilities as menteri besar,

“Azmin is in truth a key to the future leadership of the opposition.”