The Rise And Fall Of Anwar Ibrahim

How Anwar was tricked to join UMNO

 

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's political career started in the 1960s while he was still a young student in the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. Even then he would stand on his soap box and give rousing anti-British speeches - never mind that Malaya had already obtained independence from the British a few years before that.

 

Prorf. Ismail Faruqi - convinced Anwar to join Mahathir

Anwar had always been a good orator and this guaranteed his climb up the political ladder. Anwar was also a rebel without a cause. But that did not stop him. You could always count on Anwar to find a cause along the way and there were definitely plenty of causes in the 1960s and 1970s, be they social, religious or economic. 

ABIM was probably the height of Anwar's politics outside the government. Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir, who had just been made Prime Minister of Malaysia in the early 1980s, saw the threat ABIM and Anwar would pose to him and he set about to court Anwar to join him in UMNO. 

The man given the task of enticing Anwar into UMNO was Ismail Faruqi and, after many meetings and exchanges of letters, Anwar finally joined UMNO. (Transcription of the Letters reproduced here). 

It was reported that Mahathir asked Anwar what he wanted. What is Anwar shouting and screaming about? What is it that the government is doing that Anwar is not happy about? 

Anwar gave his reply. 

He listed out all that he felt was wrong and Mahathir challenged Anwar to come into the government and do it himself. Outside the government all this cannot be done and the more Anwar shouts and rants the more the government will resist him and not do what Anwar wants. If Anwar wants to do it he will have to do it himself. 

With that Anwar joined UMNO and eventually the government, much to the disappointment of Fadzil Noor who had hoped Anwar might one day take over the presidency of PAS. 

In the days before Anwar officially announced his entry into UMNO he went around explaining to his members and supporters his reasons for doing so. The announcement devastated them but Anwar told them that changes in UMNO are necessary and the only way to effect these changes would be internally. 

Many were sceptical about this. They felt that UMNO is too big and has been around too long to change. Anyway, what can one man do against an entire movement? What may happen instead is that UMNO would change Anwar rather than Anwar change UMNO. This is a classic case of the environment shaping the person rather than the person shaping the environment. 

Some of Anwar's supporters in ABIM chose to join Anwar in UMNO. Many others just resigned from ABIM and, since then, ABIM has never been the same again. Some say ABIM is almost like a shadow UMNO Youth movement whereas, in the past, it used to be almost like a shadow PAS Youth. 

Anwar's performance as a cabinet minister in Mahathir's government leaves much to be desired. Anwar is a good organiser. Even better as a speaker. But managing things is something else and Anwar's low key performance gave rise to much disillusionment from his admirers. Many of these people started to believe it was a great mistake for Anwar joining UMNO. He should have joined PAS and taken over the presidency of the party. 

Anyway it was too late for that now. Fadzil Noor went on to take over the Presidency of PAS which he had reserved for Anwar. If Anwar had become the President of PAS instead of the Deputy President of UMNO things would definitely have turned out differently for Anwar and both political parties concerned. 

One disconcerting observation many made of Anwar's tenure in the government was how his supporters pushed for projects. While Anwar was out to break the nepotism and cronyism culture, his people were pushing to get ahead and sometimes brandished his name to get what they wanted. This reflected badly on Anwar who sometimes may not have realised what his people were up to. 

On top of that they pushed for positions and awards such as Datukships. What have people like Dato' Kamaruddin Jaafar done for the nation to warrant a Datukship? 

Overnight many of Anwar's people were offered a seat on the board and Chairmanships of public companies on the sheer weight of their relationship with Anwar. Many of these companies were involved in government projects. 

I always had the opinion that if Anwar ever does fall it will be because of the people surrounding him and I mentioned this many times to friends of Anwar who would only shrug helplessly. These people were impatient to get ahead. They saw how Daim's and Mahathir's people had got rich and they too wanted a cut of the action. They wanted to build up their own business empires overnight where it had taken Daim twenty years to do so. 

Then they started to get restless. They felt Mahathir planned to stay around for some time to come and would not retire early enough. The fact that Mahathir was in the process of building his new 200 million Ringgit palace gave them the feeling that this is not the action of a man who is about to retire. Who would complete the construction of such a grand home just to retire and hand over the country and this home to his number two? 

Their main worry was that while Anwar waits patiently for Mahathir to retire the many other people below Anwar may not be too patient. Najib and Abdullah Badawi may push ahead and challenge Anwar for the Deputy President's post. So, while Anwar is prepared to wait, will the others also do the same? What if, by the time Mahathir retires, the number two is no longer Anwar? Then whoever is the number two would take over. 

A short reprieve came in 1996 when UMNO implemented the no contest for number one and number two ruling. While on the surface it looked like Mahathir has been protected from being challenged by Anwar, in reality it actually protected Anwar from being challenged by an aspiring number two - be it Najib, Abdullah Badawi, or any of the Semangat 46 leaders who had just returned to the fold of UMNO. After all, Tengku Razaleigh is as much a threat to Anwar as the others are. 

Many people felt that 1996 was the turning point in Anwar's political career. If he wanted the number one job he should have gone for it then - even if he looses. Mahathir saw the threat that Anwar posed to him which is being made worse by the impatient people surrounding Anwar. Mahathir would have to ensure that the same no contest for number one and number two ruling be applied for 1999 or else Anwar might take him on. This would become more critical for Anwar if someone else decides to take him on for the number two position. Anwar would then have no choice but to go for broke as he would be finished anyway. 

Whether Mahathir could pull off this no contest ruling the second time around is something else. The alternative then may be to remove Anwar from UMNO and leave the field clear for a contest for the number two while leaving the number one post free from any contest. 

Anwar blew it in 1996 and he may never again have the chance to go for the number one job.