YOURSAY | ‘Multiracial PKR is a threat to the ‘ketuanan’ parties of new and old…’

MP SPEAKS | Anwar Ibrahim deserves a chance to be PM

VP Biden: I concur with you, Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming. For the past 20 years, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim did not sell his soul to the other side. He held steadfast to the mandate that was given by the rakyat to PKR and Pakatan Harapan.

This is unlike the treacherous Bersatu lot and the old man's blue-eyed boy who was sabotaging PKR from the inside.

Anwar’s children are ordinary citizens not sitting on any boards and drawing fat allowances like the others. In Nurul Izzah, he has a worthy successor when the time comes.

Multiracial PKR is a threat to the ‘ketuanan’ parties of new and old and must be given a chance where others have failed. The second echelon of leaders in PKR are young, bright and battle-hardened.

The power to remove Anwar if he deviates from the righteous Malaysian agenda sits with the rakyat, not politicians jostling for power now.

Those jostling for power and their followers will continue to attack Anwar but Malaysians must rise above that and support a coalition of 20 years that has stayed true to their cause under Anwar.

My vote goes to Anwar simply because he heads a multiracial party, his children are like you and me - ordinary citizens - and the younger progressive leaders in PKR are ready to take over when the time comes, hopefully sooner than later.

GreenBear3468: Anwar is too old. His nomination to be prime minister is done only to appease the ego of the 73-year-old who, like the rest of the old guard, can't seem to realise they need to leave the fight to younger and more capable leaders.

Logically speaking, why should anyone think Anwar is fit to be PM? People like to speak of the old having more experience, but if they are really experienced, why is the country in such a mess right now?

And his experience as a minister was gained in the 1990s. Things have changed. We have different challenges now. It doesn't help that he was in jail for 11 years. Life behind bars doesn't exactly give him the necessary know-how to lead a country.

Anwar is simply a political symbol. His name is to inspire the masses to take action against political injustice, corruption, discrimination, etc. But as an administrator, he is not qualified.

Kim Quek: Looking around at the current political landscape, I don’t see anyone more capable than Anwar to extricate the nation from the current political quagmire, which is culminated from decades of self-degeneration through unbridled racism, religious bigotry and corruption.

We are badly in need of a good leader capable of taking our political plague by the horns and putting the nation on a proper footing to begin genuine nation-building. Anwar is more qualified than any other to undertake this enormous task.

Let us give ourselves and Anwar a chance. Do it now, or we may not get a similar chance for perhaps decades to come.

BlueShark1548: @Kim Quek, no one more capable than Anwar? There are many other Malay leaders who are not tainted like Anwar. We have Perak DAP vice-chairperson Abdul Aziz Bari, Nurul Izzah and Rafizi Ramli from PKR, Mohd Shafie Apdal from Warisan and Mohamad Hasan from Umno.

We are not short of leaders but the problem is that the old veterans who are in their 70s and 80s refuse to step aside.

Nurul Izzah would be an excellent choice as a young woman and she has the Anwar DNA. She is not in the picture because Anwar refuses to step down.

OrangePanther1466: Nga, you are too smart to have voluntarily waded into the topic. You must have been convincingly persuaded to pen this article. Anwar is a has-been and he has no one to blame but himself for the botched opportunities to be the PM.

You opted not to mention Shafie who has the credentials and experience to be a good PM. A former chief minister and also a former federal cabinet minister in a fairly senior level who spoke against Najib Abdul Razak and the 1MDB scandal. He is relatively untainted and espouses the Malaysian Malaysia idealism.

It’s about time we look to East Malaysia to provide the leadership our nation desperately needs.

RR: Why so many adverse comments on Anwar as if other national leaders are angels and of supreme integrity? Anwar has been a national leader in government as well as in the opposition for umpteen years.

Is there any other Malay national leader who could keep the national unity of all races, especially with Perikatan Nasional (PN) being a total Malay coalition as if other races don't exist as citizens?

Anwar was Malay- and Islamic-centric but he has changed to become a unifying factor of all races, unlike other parties which are totally single-race based.

Caripasal: Anwar is one of the Malay politicians who never jumped ship. Credit must be given to him for holding on to his political principles.

He might not be a perfect politician or a master strategist like the old fox, but in comparison, he is a rather moderate Malay who understands the needs of both the Malays and the non-Malays.

Anwar, like DAP, has been repeatedly slandered by other politicians and the mainstream media as being anti-Malay. Perhaps Anwar is the only Malay politician capable of negotiating the racial divide in this country.

Milshah: If Anwar wants to be PM, he needs to get majority support. That has been his problem. Yes, many DAP MPs, PKR MPs, and many Malaysiakini commenters want Anwar to be PM, but to put it bluntly, you all are the minority. That is why Anwar could not be PM.

He needs majority support, not minority support. He does not have support from the rural Malays, from the East Malaysians of Sabah and Sarawak. These groups of voters are vital for anyone who aspires to be PM. For that, Anwar needs to know what it takes to get these voters.

The truth is, our nation is too divided. For example, Anwar's supporters want a Malaysian Malaysia and needs-based policies, but rural Malays and East Malaysians want protection of their rights. If Anwar supports the left, he will lose the right. If he supports the right, he will lose the left.

Just look at Mahathir, he went for the right, and until today, the left condemns him. But the right was the majority. That’s why he got to be PM for 22 years and for a second time too.

Anwar on the other hand has chosen the left with his needs-based policy. But the left is the minority. And that's why until this day he could not become PM. He needs support from both the left and right.

I know it’s hard, even impossible, but the reward will be the prized premiership. Or he could just go for the right abandoning the left altogether, which is what PAS, Umno, and Bersatu are doing.

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