Scoring lots of own-goals

It's bad enough that Pakatan Harapan has been slow in implementing promised reforms. To make matters worse, it's been scoring own goals.

Take for example the whole khat controversy. Why try to implement this controversial measure when there are many more things to take care of and worry about?

Then there is the whole brouhaha about unilateral conversions in Selangor? Why try to do this when it would be over-ruled by the Federal Court?

Dr M is fully capable of stopping all this own-goals but he doesn't seem to be doing it. Why not? Why is he allowing the PH government look like it's in chaos?

Maybe he's got some weird Machiavellian plan that we can't even fathom. We'll just have to wait and see.

Dr M should not exhaust electorate's goodwill

He's nearly spent up all the goodwill he earned from GE14.

Dr M earned himself a tremendous amount of goodwill when he helped the country get rid of a kleptocratic government led by Najib. Nobody thought they could really pull it off but Pakatan Harapan, led by Dr M, performed a miracle and caused a change in government for the first time in our nation's history.

For that, a lot of people were grateful and many, including myself, were willing to forgive him for the transgressions of the past. Yes, the main reason Najib was able to do what he did was thanks to the system established by Dr M. But Dr M helped us get rid of him, so for that we were willing to give him a second chance. A chance to redeem himself.

It was hoped that during the two years he was supposed to be in office (before handing the PM-ship over to Anwar), he would help usher in at least some reforms and more importantly, ensure the prosecution of 1MDB crimes.

One year has gone by while the court case involving Najib is ongoing, and there has been very little progress when it comes to reforms. Repressive laws like the Sedition Act are still in the books. People are still being charged for things they post on social media (as if Malaysians are so easily incited by the silly postings of some agent provocateurs).

It certainly looks like we will have to wait until Anwar becomes PM before we see the major reforms we expected when we voted to boot out the BN government. But will Anwar ever get to become PM?

It's been speculated for some time now that Dr M actually prefers Azmin to take over as PM but recent developments have pushed this notion further, so much so that Malaysiakini has made a point to end every story about Azmin with the statement that it is widely believed that Azmin is preferred. So what has been spoken about in hushed tones is now out in the public.

You have Azmin's faction in PKR saying publicly that they prefer Dr M to stay the whole term, which basically means Anwar doesn't get to become PM. You have some factions in Bersatu saying the same thing, including the education minister, who really has no business saying this. He knows full well what the agreement was before GE14 and he knows just as well that what the electorate voted for was Dr M as interim PM for two years and Anwar to take over. Yet, he goes and rocks the boat further by suggesting Dr M stay the full term.

Dr M of course has plausible deniability because he keeps saying he will keep his promise. He also promised prior to the election not to take in any UMNO frogs. His track record of keeping to his promises is not exactly stellar.

If Dr M wanted to quash all talk of him staying the full term, he could easily do so by publicly denouncing what Azmin's faction are saying about that. He can also instruct his Bersatu members to stop rocking the already shaky boat. But does he do that? No.

Perhaps this is just some mind game he is playing to screw with Anwar's head, to make sure he toes the line and stays a team player. In a way, it's working. You can see Anwar is walking on eggshells, careful not to piss off the old man.

DAP and Amanah are also walking on eggshells with none of its leaders commenting on this topic. Like Anwar, they are just waiting for the first two years to go by. But will the promised transition happen? Increasingly it looks like it won't.

Dr M likes to say two or three years. Why doesn't he give a precise date? He's also fond of saying, when the economy recovers. Who knows how long that will take!

He is purposely playing up the ambiguity, probably because he likes to have everyone walk on eggshells. This way nobody will challenge him on anything, such as the third national car project that nobody wants except him.

Being the crafty politician that he is, he might just surprise everyone and pass the baton to Anwar mid-way through the term (say 2.5 years)? Or, he might not. With Dr M, it's hard to tell.

If it's the former, people can forgive him for doing this a bit late. I think people might be willing to even accept three years instead of two, although this is stretching it a bit. But if he doesn't handover to Anwar after three years, he would have burned all the goodwill he's accumulated for the good deed he did in helping to kick out Najib. There is only so much goodwill to be spent.

In fact, he's been spending that goodwill like it's going out of style, what with the secretive meeting with the Opposition (which happens to be supporting the notion of him staying on as PM for the full term). If anything, the fact that the Opposition wants him for the full term should tell you that it's a bad idea.

I'll be the first to say that after the surprise victory in GE14, PH needed a person like Dr M to be the PM to guide the transition. He is the most experienced politician in the country and he was the steady hand that assured everyone that things will not be chaotic.

Things are stable and there's about a year left for him to tidy up whatever things he needs to get done before he is scheduled to step down. Dr M should not overstay his welcome.

He should not make the mistake of thinking people voted for PH because they wanted him to become the PM. They wanted Anwar but they needed him to make it happen because Anwar was in jail at the time. So, they settled for Dr M as an interim PM. That's what the people voted for.

Dr M would do well to remember that and start planning for the transition instead of playing mind games with Anwar and the electorate.

Azmin and his supporters are taking a huge gamble

Why is he supporting Azmin's stance on the PM handover issue? He's really rolling the dice with this one.

By openly supporting PAS's call for Dr M to serve a full term, Azmin has made it clear he doesn't want Anwar to become PM. His supporters, most notably Zuraida, have also openly called for this, knowing full well that was not the agreement going into GE14 and knowing full well that is not what the people voted for. Yet, they persist in trying to thwart Anwar's succession into the PM role.

It's one thing if a faction within PKR has decided to engage in an internecine war with the majority of the party, which does want Anwar to become PM. It's quite another when an leader from another party, in this case Maszlee, wades into the controversy and makes clear he also wants to thwart Anwar's plans to become PM.

If Anwar ever comes to power, these folks will be in the political wilderness. Even if Anwar is not the vengeful type, it's hard to imagine he would have in his Cabinet people who openly tried to prevent him from becoming PM.

So, will Anwar become PM? Well that's the plan although some people are trying their best to shake things up. It's hard to tell what Dr M is up to. He's had that mysterious meeting with the Opposition, which only serves to cause more gossip to fly. Every few days you have one of Azmin's supporters or Bersatu people calling for Dr M to stay on for the full term.

It's obvious they hope this will result in a groundswell of support from among the rakyat for Dr M to stay on until GE15. But this isn't going to happen. The majority of the public that voted out BN, didn't do so because they wanted Dr M back. They did so because they Anwar to become PM but it was necessary to have Dr M as an interim PM because Anwar was in jail then.

The understanding has always been that Anwar would take over Dr M after two years. And that was what the people voted for. Anybody that tries to change that is trying to deny the will of the people.

They grossly underestimate public opinion. Dr M is a safe pair of hands to guide the country through the transition period from 60 years of BN rule to a new PH government. He is also the man to ensure that the people behind the 1MDB scandal will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But Dr M is not the man to bring about much-needed reforms.

Anwar is. And that's what the people voted for. People like Azmin, as skilled a political operator as he is, don't realize that. These people are in for a rude awakening.

The Haziq video scandal is really bizarre

As with most things in politics, whom you believe tends to depend on whom you support. It's no coincidence that those who are quick to dismiss the Haziq videos are Azmin supporters and those who say, "let's wait to see the outcome of the investigations" happen to be Anwar supporters.

There are so many things that are weird about this situation. Let's start with the timing of it.

The fact that this video came out soon after Latheefa Koya was unilaterally appointed MACC chief has got conspiracy theorists in a frenzy. Remember, the allegations are not just that Azmin was involved in an affair with Haziq but also that he was involved in corruption.

If you are into conspiracy theories, there are two ways to look at it. One conspiracy theory is that Dr M knew this scandal was about to explode to he put in an Azmin supporter in charge of MACC to ensure that he is protected.

The other conspiracy theory is that whoever leaked the videos did so right after Latheefa was appointed to make it look like it was all done to protect Azmin.

There are problems with both conspiracy theories. With regard to the first one, nobody believes Latheefa is willing to be a pawn in anybody's Machiavellian games. She may be an Azmin supporter (or anti-Anwar, depending on how you look at it) but she is seen as someone with high integrity and will not defend someone if there is evidence of wrongdoing by that person. Besides, early indications are that the corruption allegation seem to be false, although investigations are ongoing).

As for the second one, for the leaker to have timed the release of the videos right after Latheefa was appointed mean that leaker knew about the impending appointment. How would anyone know? Even Dr M's Cabinet did not know.

Now, let's look at Haziq's allegation. He did not claim that he was sexually assaulted or that there was any coercion involved. But if the duo were willing partners (or lovers) why would he turn on Azmin? And why would he claim Azmin was corrupt? On the face of it, it does sound like this was designed to smear Azmin.

But it's worth mentioning that even if an action is meant to ruin someone politically, it doesn't mean that person was not the person in the video. We don't know if that person was Azmin or not. There was an overseas article where several video forensics experts were asked to verify the authenticity of the video clips. Their conclusion was that it was not a fake or doctored video although they couldn't say whether the other person involved was Azmin or not. What they could say was simply that it was not a deepfake.

So, if the video is real, who is the person with Haziq (assuming that was Haziq in the video). Was it someone wearing make up to look like Azmin?

Also, it Haziq wanted to frame Azmin, and assuming for the sake of discussion that Azmin was the one in the video, shouldn't he have installed a HD camera instead? Shouldn't he have accumulated more damning evidence then some grainy video footage?

If the investigators are doing their job properly, video forensics specialists should be engaged to verify the authenticity of the video and perhaps they could give their judgement on how likely the people in the video are actually Haziq and Azmin.

Secondly, CCTV footage of the hotel should be reviewed to see if these two men entered the same room and how long they were in the room etc.

All these types of things and more needs to be looked into. These are extraordinary accusations being made by Haziq and fervent denials by Azmin. The authorities have to get to the bottom of this and I believe in the end they will.

In the meantime, it's pointless arguing one way or the other. It's not convincing for Dr M to have simply dismiss the videos even before the investigations had begun. It's also not right for people to jump to conclusions about Azmin. The truth will eventually come out and it might not look good for either party.

Latheefa Koya saga -- it depends on whose ox is being gored

Whether you are happy or bothered by Latheefa Koya's appointment as MACC chief depends almost entirely on where you lie on the political spectrum of Pakatan Harapan, and specifically within PKR.

Basically, if you are in the pro-Anwar faction,  you fall into "concerned about process" camp. If you are in the pro-Azmin camp, you are in the "the PM has the right to appoint whoever he wants" camp.

And if you are not into PKR politics or even Pakatan politics, you are probably glad that Latheefa Koya has been selected to head MACC because of her reputation as an idealist and activist. You believe she will make criminals shiver, as Ambiga put it.

I am of the same opinion as Ambiga. From what I've read of Latheefa, she probably would make a good MACC chief.

That doesn't mean there isn't any concern whatsoever about process. I think it's not a good thing that the process promised by Pakatan was not adhered to. However, my concern about process has nothing to do with whether I'm in the pro-Anwar vs pro-Azmin camp. I think it's important that the executive does not have so much powers.

It would have been interesting to see how each of these camps would have reacted if someone who was anti-Azmin and pro-Anwar was selected the same way to become MACC chief. I suspect that if that had happened, the very same people who are concerned about process suddenly don't mind that the process was not followed. Similarly, the very people who don't think that process is important, would suddenly be harping about process and why it should have been followed.

In other words, it depends on whose ox is being gored. What position you take has little to do with process or no process and has everything to do with which faction you support.