Anwar Ibrahim: "Mahathir plotting to be back in power!"

When Malaysiakini interviewed Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy PM’s first revelation has been that Dr Mahathir’s current campaign of criticism against PM AAB has a sinister objective, namely to restore Dr Mahathir back into power.

Much as Dr Mahathir may be a superman, given his 81 years of age, I think Anwar's accusation has been a bit far fetched. But then Anwar Ibrahim is not above his own mode of attack against his old boss and now archfoe.

In fact Anwar gave Mahathir a double barrel dose of his cynicism. He stated:

“Remember, the whole basis of his (Mahathir's) criticism is not one or two policies but that the leadership has lost its focus.”

“Mahathir is contending that the Malays cannot feel secure under the present leadership. He is contending that our Malays' interests are not protected and that interests have been sold to a foreign country and in particular to the Singapore.”

“Certainly there is a racist connotation there or the message is that the Chinese (continue to be a threat) ... and therefore you need a strong leader to make amends and to chart a clear policy to protect the interests of this country before surrendering to whomever, and in this case, Najib.”

There you have it, direct from the guru of wisdom. Mahathir has not only criticised AAB for weak leadership but had laced his criticism with racist overtones against the Chinese. I am not sure whether it’s part of Anwar's disingenuous strategy of scoring a few points for PKR’s Chinese section against MCA and Gerakan, just in case he can’t get back into UMNO.

Personally, I as a Chinese, didn't and don't see Dr Mahathir’s remarks in the abandoned bridge issue as representing an anti-Chinese attack.

In fact the whole thrust of Dr Mahathir’s campaign, supplemented by Matthias Chang's attacks, has been that a Malaysian had gone about to buka Malaysia’s kaki kang-kang (open Malaysia's legs wide apart, or prostituted Malaysia) to Singapore in the form of sand and airspace without even the Singaporeans demanding for it.

Mahathir had questioned the patriotism of that Malaysian, who would even consider scrapping every grain of sand off Malaysia’s beaches to sell to Singapore for the island State’s reclamation projects. OK, Mahathir might have exaggerated the analogy by as much as a beach-ful of sand grains, but that’s still a world of difference from Anwar Ibrahim’s allegation of anti-Chinese racism by Dr Mahathir.

But the most telling point about what Anwar Ibrahim said has been [get this, it’s really telling]:

“I spoke to some of his [Mahathir’s] strong supporters or aides - as you know, I keep my options open by talking to these quarters - and they seemed very optimistic, encouraged by the resounding support given, including by some opposition leaders.”

my bold underlining

“I keep my options open” – doesn’t that say it all!