Anwar's student leader days are gone

DECKED in white and looking spiffy in his milky leather sneakers, Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz had newsmen in stitches when making remarks concerning Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Nazri's detractors may deem his choice of words to be uncouth, but there was truth when he said that opposition leader Anwar should stop living in the past and behave like a rebellious student leader.

"Well, I was a student leader, too. But that was long time ago. Anwar is old.

"He is going to be 70, but he acts as if he is sill a student leader.

"We are over that phase. Jangan la dok buat macam tu lagi (please stop behaving like that)."

Of course, it was Nazri being himself and his sarcasm never failed to inject humour into his comments. But he was not far off the mark when spewing fire against Anwar and his cohorts on that Thursday.

It is nothing new for Anwar to come out with a stunning statement in a rebellious manner and later deciding to do the opposite after considering the ramifications. At the very least, he may be a young rebel at heart with a penchant for holding rallies. He is still afraid and unsure of the backlash he may receive from the actions he had done.

Despite all the noise made to declare the general election null and void after failing to take over Putrajaya, Anwar has considered that he would not have his parliamentary victory relinquished for boycotting the swearing-in ceremony for parliamentarians, rather than giving in to his rebellious student nature.

He had last week mulled over boycotting the ceremony as part of the opposition's protest against the election results. It does not take a genius to realise that a boycott would be tantamount to insulting the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and voters, who had ensured Anwar's ticket to the august house.

As usual, Anwar's stance is different than that of Pas and DAP's; it has never crossed the minds of the other two parties to ignore something that they had worked so hard for. In the end, the opposition moved to boycott only a briefing session of the ceremony, which is rather childish. Anwar's student-leader quality may had rubbed off on some of his colleagues, who agreed that it was revolutionary to boycott a briefing. 

Oh, one must single out DAP's Er Teck Hwa, from Bakri, Johor, from the brood for attending the briefing. At least he was responsible enough to learn more about the Parliament sitting. Anwar is notably good at rousing support, encouraging his supporters and employing theatrics to portray himself as the leader for the country.

But, of late, it is also not too difficult to notice his political threats had been watered down by a chorus of disagreement among his allies. On the Blackout 505 rallies, for example, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had said no demonstrations should be carried out without an substantiated cause.

Understandably, Azmin was promoting a thinly-veiled campaign against the appointment of Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor menteri besar. Party insiders had opined that Azmin was slighted by Anwar, who was busy gunning for rallies, rather than attending to his complaints. It was more than an enough for Azmin to chastise his mentor.

It seems that Anwar's influence and voice are not impervious to the attacks from his party. He may attract thousands to hear him speak, but his allies have shown that Anwar is losing his political clout. Anwar may have yet to realise that the popularity he had enjoyed as a vociferous student leader has left him high and dry.

--NST