Increasingly, those who disagree with the government run the risk of being ridiculed by Anwar supporters as “perfectionists” and “armchair politicians”, as people who live in “the Barbie world”, unable to grasp the big picture, too stupid to even understand what politics is all about, etc. 

Mind you these guardians of the unity government seldom address the issues and concerns that are being raised; they just hide behind cheap condescending one-liners like “Rome wasn’t built in a day” or “it’s a choice between the lesser of two evils” or “would you prefer Hadi Awang instead of Anwar?” Incredibly, someone even opined that, “Sometimes we must tolerate or do evil things for the greater good.” Be careful what you wish for.

To them, it’s all a zero-sum game; you are either with them (in which case you blindly go along with whatever the government does) or you are against them. If you are critical, you must be either hopelessly naive or a closet PN supporter. There’s no in-between, no room for differences of opinion. 

One Anwar acolyte even went so far as to accuse “most of us civilians” of “allowing” former prime ministers Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri “to complete their full terms” but are unwilling to extend the same courtesy to Anwar; never mind that it was Pakatan Harapan that helped extend the life of Ismail Sabri’s administration with its 2021 CSA. 

But whatever it is, all these one-liners are just red herrings designed to shift the focus away from the real issues at stake. 

Just to be clear, I do not support any move to unseat Anwar or upend the unity government. And no, I don’t want Hadi or Muhyiddin to be PM. Along with many other Malaysians I voice my concerns not because I want the government to fail but because I really want the government to succeed. But, unlike many Anwar supporters, I believe that the way to success lies not in excusing the government’s many failings but in insisting that it live up to its promises. 

Of course, Anwar will need time to set things right but what is worrying is that he doesn’t seem to be making good use of the time he already has. So many of the government’s actions and policies are simply regressive. There was a time when Anwar spoke eloquently about Ketuanan Rakyat; now he sounds more and more like a Ketuanan Melayu ideologue.

The duplicity and hypocrisy of this government is worrying as well. It wasn’t so long ago, for example, that Anwar and his PH colleagues were howling about how anti-democratic legislation were being used to stifle peaceful public protests; now they are using the same laws against demonstrators including a bunch of farmers who simply wanted to peacefully present a petition at the gates of Parliament. 

And then there’s that by now infamous, shocking and shameful DNAA decision in favour of Zahid Hamidi. The government can try to hide behind the AG but there’s no escaping the fact that the manner in which the case was handled stinks to high heaven. I dare say that many Malaysians are appalled that our government would act in such a disgraceful, despicable and dishonest manner. 

So, to those Anwar supporters who are always pleading with us to give Anwar more time, I ask: why would he need more time when he’s clearly abusing the time that he has been given? And how much time does the government need to begin to act with integrity? How much time does Anwar need to stand up for the principles he once fought for? 

He doesn’t need a full term to accomplish all that; he just needs the courage of his convictions, if he still has them. There’s never going to be a convenient time to reform a corrupt system; if it can’t be done now, chances are it will never be done.

Whenever questions are raised about the reform agenda, Anwar supporters are quick to dismiss it with the rejoinder that this is a ‘unity’ government not a ‘reformasi’ government. But does such a sleight of hand excuse the government from acting honourably and with integrity? 

Just because it isn’t a reformasi government, is it okay to harass the media or continue to make crony appointments or use anti-democratic legislation to stifle dissent or continue to exploit religion to win support or avoid transparency and accountability? If that’s the case, why don’t we just call it an “UMNO” government; it’s beginning to look like that anyway!

Not so long ago, Malaysians were encouraged to go watch Anwar: The Untold Story. Those who saw it must surely be wondering what happened to that earnest young politician whose every fibre was filled with reformasi zeal. Alas, we might now have to comfort ourselves with another fantasy movie – Barbie.

[Dennis Ignatius | Kuala Lumpur | 14th September 2023]