By P. Gunasegaram
Question: Who was the oldest prime minister of Malaysia at first appointment? It may not be so obvious if you don’t think about it, but the answer is current PM Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir Mohamad holds the record for oldest PM in Malaysia in his second reincarnation, and the oldest in the world at re-appointment in 2018, marking a sad saga of dependence on aging, fading leaders . Where is our fresh blood, when they were in abundance earlier?
Tunku was PM at 54
Tunku was just 54 when he became PM at independence, Razak a mere 35 when he was DPM and 48 when he became PM, becoming easily the youngest PM ever at appointment. His successor Hussein, son of Umno founder Jaffar Onn, was 53.
Mahathir was 56 when he became PM, holding the reins for 22 long years. He was a ripe 78 when he stepped down in 2003, having gone through four deputy PMs. Abdullah stepped down in favour of Najib after a poor show at the 2008 polls. But the duo did not recover the early closeness and rapport of the immediate post independence era PMs and their deputies.
More importantly, never before has there been so much uncertainty over the next PM. Who will succeed Anwar when the inevitable happens and he is no longer able to hold the top position down?
The answer is indefinite, partly because after the demise of the first three prime ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Abdul Razak Hussein and Hussein Onn- and after the ascension of the fourth, Mahathir – succession was kept almost deliberately obscure. The fear – the deputy might overthrow the incumbent.
Mahathir has four deputies
Mahathir infamously had four deputies – Musa Hitam, Abdul Ghafar Baba, Anwar who he ignominiously sacked in 1998, and an Anwar foe at the time Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The first three left acrimoniously, pushed out by various means.
While previous PMs and deputies were chummy, engaged with each other and had a close and even trusting relationship, that changed gradually. It started from the 1970s when Razak took over from Tunku and increased with Mahathir’s acrimony over his deputies.
Tunku felt betrayed by Razak and I share the analysis by many that the Tunku was forced out by young Turks in Umno, including the then more youthful and outspoken Mahathir, a rising radical star.
Anwar’s chosen deputies for prime minister post the 2022 elections, the first time there were two, reflected a compromise choice but significantly sidelined his own party and Rafizi Ramli who at the time was deputy president of PKR.
Rafizi was ousted from this post in hotly disputed party elections by Anwar’s daughter and former staunch Rafizi ally Nurul Izzah in May, leaving Rafizi, who also stepped down as economy minister post the defeat, as an independent critic of the government.
If Anwar is unable to continue as PM now for whatever reason, the person who will naturally take over the post is Deputy PM 1, Umno’s Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, already 72 years old, and a staunch member of the old guard.
Power of incumbency
And in Malaysia, the power of incumbency is rather strong as previous PMs, probably unwanted by a majority, such as Mahathir 2, Muhyiddin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob have shown.
And as they have also shown, that would lead to considerable uncertainty as attempts to unseat them surfaced at regular intervals . It could have been avoided this time if Anwar had thought of including as deputy PM 1, a member from his own party or coalition.
The natural choice would have been Rafizi, a tireless, long-standing campaigner for reformasi, PKR and Anwar. Anwar gave him the toothless economy minister position and the powerful home ministry position to Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Saifuddin not only lost the deputy president position at PKR to Rafizi he lost his parliamentary seat as well in the November 22 elections. He was made a senator and then appointed home minister, probably the first time a home minister was appointed that way – as if there were no other MPs who could have taken the position within PKR.
That was a slap in the face for Rafizi who should have been appointed as deputy PM1 by virtue of his deputy president position at PKR. It must have been deliberate by Anwar, which opens the PM’s position to Umno’s Ahmad Zahid if anything happened to him.
Is there any likelihood that current PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah will ascend to become PM if anything happened to Anwar? Unlikely and definitely not immediately, because there is no clear succession to the top and that power of incumbency.
But if Rafizi was ensconced as deputy PM 1, he would ascend to the top and hold it because he has the Harapan coalition behind it. There would be stability and a clear line of succession- and that too to a younger person.
Umno leaders present and past
Rafizi is 48 now, 45 then and it would have paved the way for younger, more competent and incorruptible ones to come to the fore, of which there are many within PKR, DAP and Amanah.
That Anwar has not done this must indicate that he does not want this to happen and favours his old Umno chum Ahmad Zahid over even his own party, PKR.
That is a gross betrayal by Anwar of reformasi, PKR and those who worked tirelessly for Umno’s defeat and Anwar’s ascendancy as PM. It must be galling that after all this, Anwar looks to someone from Umno to succeed him.
If Anwar survives – he is 78 now -into the next elections, it looks unlikely that the Madani coalition will do well as public confidence is low. Even if it does, it means the erosion of power of the Harapan original trio of PKR, DAP and Amanah and everything they stood for.
The prospects for Harapan -and the nation – going forward looks rather gloomy. Umno leaders past and present have ensured that. They have to go – leave the stage – before this nation of ours rises anew under a leadership unyoked completely from Umno.
P Gunasegaram says the past has a habit of repeating itself, until it is consciously broken.
You must be logged in to post a comment.