“Anwar was definitely ‘crazy’ about becoming the prime minister. But he cannot be (PM) because, in the past, he had so much support. But now, people support me and say, please do not let him become (PM).”

– Former two-time prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad

COMMENT | With the rather tame announcement by Anwar Ibrahim that he is the opposition leader, the big question, is will he continue to genuflect before the Malay political establishment – which is different from the Malay base – which has rejected him since he was cast out from the Umno paradise?

At this point, Anwar, the beleaguered aspirant to the throne of Putrajaya, seems willing to forgive anyone if it means getting closer to power. Anwar’s comments about his willingness to accept Bersatu back in the fold if they accept the “reform” agenda – whatever that means – should give Pakatan Harapan supporters pause. His statement about Azmin’s Ali’s treachery being nothing personal has destroyed whatever shred of credibility Anwar has left.

In case people are confused about this, let me be very clear. The problem with Azmin Ali was never that he was ambitious or wanted to replace Anwar as the head honcho of PKR or even that he wanted to be the next PM.

This is politics and if Anwar could not even handle power grabs within his own party, people should be sceptical of his ...