Mr. Anwar Ibrahim was sworn into Parliament as a Member of Parliament (MP) today. Many will be watching as to whether he is able to deliver his promise of getting a minimum of 30 BN lawmakers on his side by September 16. This date is specially chosen as it marks the day Malaysia was born, which included Singapore when it first founded.
70 per cent of his votes have been contributed by Malays, showing a tremendous amount of support. However, doubts of his sodomy charges are still wavering in the air. Mr. Anwar will have to clear his name somehow either through the law IF he allows the police to take his DNA sample when the DNA Bill is endorsed, or by taking an swearing his innocence on Quran like his aide Mr. Azlan did. Although it looks like he currently possesses an upperhand against the government coalition, he sure has an insurmountable amount of obstacles of overcome before his political frenzy can be stabilised - and God bless, may Malaysia'a economy get back on track.
Meanwhile, as Anwar celebrates his new-found victory, PM Abdullah Badawi faces fresh calls to step down. There are signs that his political party is falling apart - this time the crack is even wider than during the March elections. A senior member of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, have expressed displeasure over the Prime Minister's capability and calls for a new leadership "to unite our people... and forge a clear national direction".
Surprisingly, ever since Mr. Anwar has been contesting in the election race, former Prime Minister Mr. Mahathir Mohammad, has kept out of the limelight - something which is uncommon of him. Mr. Mahathir has groomed and named Mr. Badawi as his successor, however after a few years under PM Mr. Badawai governance, Mahathir expressed that Badawi was not living up to expectations and called for his stepping down. Mr. Mahathir has also played a huge role in instigating senior members of Umno to pressure Badawi to resign.
Now, Mr. Mahathir's son Mukhriz, another senior Umno figure contesting to enter the party's influencial youth wing, has motioned for Mr. Abdullah's resignation.
Is Mahathir still influencing the political direction in Malaysia today, but through someone else's actions and words?
Well, for now, its good luck to both Mr. Anwar Ibrahim and Mr. Abdullah Badawi!
Labels: Malaysian Politics
