COMMENT It has been said that nothing is permanent in politics. But in Pakatan Harapan, one thing is clear – Anwar Ibrahim will succeed Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

Everyone in Harapan, and Malaysians who voted for the coalition, expect that one agreement to remain intact. Well, it is not wrong to state that has been cast in stone and accepted by all who matter in the new Harapan government.

Even Mahathir himself has reiterated that Anwar will be his successor. The only question is the timing. Mahathir had said that it could be earlier or later than two years.

So Anwar will wait. And he had said that he would. Even his ever loyal spouse, Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, had also declared that “Anwar is patient and can wait because if he wasn’t prepared to wait, he would not have gone to Sungai Buloh”.

Meantime, what is Anwar’s role? Oh, he has a lot on his plate, he says. Anwar has been diplomatic and respectful of Mahathir, saying that he will be assisting the new prime minister.

So far, Anwar has been visiting the sultans, and he has rightly explained why he had done so. Then, he also said that he would be giving lectures overseas.

As I see it, Anwar has no definite role in the Mahathir administration. He is neither here nor there.

What he has done so far did not really go down well with those who did not appreciate Anwar’s own perceived role of ‘helping out’ Mahathir. Some of his detractors who claimed that “this is the typical Anwar I know” had even accused him of meddling in affairs he has no business in at the moment.

Because Anwar has no specific role, he is in a dilemma. Many do not doubt his sincerity in his recent efforts to defuse the purported tension between the king and the government over the appointment of the new attorney-general. But, is that really Anwar’s role? That is the question asked by some and it is not an invalid one.

Mahathir has many issues to resolve

Perhaps, Mahathir should consider giving Anwar a permanent role and Anwar should accept it. Mahathir is the prime minister and he is the boss for now.

What about appointing Anwar to look into Sarawak affairs for the moment? Or even East Malaysian affairs as a whole, including Sabah.

Many Sarawakians, myself included, are aware that Mahathir has little or no time to handle Sarawak at the moment. We understand the prime minister’s position. He has more than enough issues to resolve at federal level, including rehabilitating the country and dealing with its massive RM1 trillion debt.

Issues in Sarawak are many and we, Sarawakians, need federal help. Of primary concern to many of us is the rampant abuse of power and corrupt practices that are still going on. And nobody, and I repeat nobody, is really seriously doing anything about it. At least, not that I know of.

We need a serious and tough personality and one with clout to clean up the mess in Sarawak once and for all. To me, Anwar fits the bill perfectly.

This is not a task for a small man to handle and Anwar should be proud if Mahathir assigns him the “cleaning up” job in Sarawak. Anwar will have to deal with the untouchables in the state and if a man of his stature is unable to handle it, I’m not sure who else can.

Anwar could even ask Mahathir for the Sarawak job as a personal challenge and I believe Anwar will be welcomed by many in the state. If anything else, it is also a sign of Putrajaya’s concerns for Sarawak and its peoples.

That the malaise at the top in Sarawak is urgent and pressing and needs immediate attention is not without basis.

Only yesterday, an expose in Sarawak Report revealed how a purported RM1.25 billion ‘scam” contract was awarded to a car rental company in Bintulu by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to install solar energy supplies to 369 schools in Sarawak’s interior.

Yes, there are Sarawakians who are thieves too. And I have also said previously that the biggest Malaysian thief is actually a Sarawakian.

In recent weeks, I have also received reports of the grand theft of prime lands throughout Sarawak by those in the corridors of power. Stealing land seems to be the “in thing” now, since there is very little timber to loot.

Then, there is also the list of allegations that was brought to my attention, regarding the undesirable activities of a top Sarawak civil servant which has greatly demoralised the state civil service.

Problems in my home state are many and challenging and Sarawakians have given up hope of the current state government being able to resolve them.

The majority of politicians in power today in Sarawak have too much personal interests to protect and are not prepared to rock the boat and stop the rot. To them, it’s business as usual, as long as their interests are well looked after. This is exactly what many of us voted to get rid of in GE 14.

Seriously, if I have to go down on my knees to seek the help of Mahathir and Anwar, to clean up the mess in my homeland, I would for the sake of Sarawak and so many helpless Sarawakians whose cries for help over the past decades have largely gone unheard.

This is yet another cry for help from a Sarawakian.

FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.