“Umno will reject any offer to cooperate with Anwar as long as he is in cahoots with DAP, full stop. I have to say this repeatedly because people just don’t get it.”

- Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, circa 2019

COMMENT | I keep reading all these commentaries that if Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim carried out the structural reforms he promised, Harapan would not be getting the thrashing it is getting now.

This may sound comforting, but the reality is that this is about power and the perception of power, and Anwar gave his away to Umno.

The only reason that Umno/BN is in ascendancy is that Anwar enabled it.

An intelligent politician faced with the option (for whatever reasons) of allowing the enemy into the camp would have restricted the movements of the enemy, limited the enemy’s capability to gather intelligence and influence, and hobbled the enemy’s capacity to nurture mutually beneficial relations within the encampment.

Keep in mind that...