A team of rivals

Trouble brewing?

There could be a lot of turbulence in PKR in the coming months and years. It is in that unique situation where the president's deputy is also his rival.

That was the case with Dr M and Anwar in the 1990s remember? And look how that ended up.

It's very clear Azmin feels by now he has outgrown his role as Anwar's trusty lieutenant. Rafizi is content to play that role but not Azmin.

Will he challenge Anwar someday? Or might he actually quit PKR for Bersatu as some rumors and news reports suggest?

Who knows. Anything is possible in politics. Who would have thought it was possible for Anwar and Kit Siang to team up with Mahathir to oust Najib.

I consider myself a pretty savvy political observer -- and my comments published in newspaper columns and books over the years have proven to be quite accurate -- but just a few years ago if you had asked me if it was possible that Dr M would actually join the opposition and work with Anwar to try to defeat Najib, I would have said "Never in a million years".

So, anything is possible although it would be hard to imagine Azmin actually quitting PKR and joining Bersatu. That is really quite a stretch. What is more likely is perhaps some formal leadership challenge within PKR at some point. Perhaps when it comes closer for Anwar to take over as PM.

Does Dr M encourage this? Well, he did give Azmin a very powerful economic role despite the fact that he already had a capable finance minister. Why did he do that if not to bolster Azmin's credibility and gravitas? And why would he want to do that given that Azmin is not from his party? Hmmm... imponderables!

One thing you can be sure of though. Azmin may be savvy but Anwar is no novice in politics. If the rest of us can see what's happening, surely he sees it much better than we do and I'm sure he has plans and maneuvers in place in the eventuality of a challenge from Azmin.

It will be interesting times for PKR next year. Expect a lot of fireworks.