Anwar…. A new dawn for Malaysia?

I have mixed feelings abt AI being the 10th PM of Malaysia. On one hand its a long awaited and fitting chapter that caps his personal odyssey to lead Malaysia. I am happy for him and his family. But when I ask myself – how much ground did he have to give away to secure the PM seat? Its a question that has all the power to disturb simply because this election has highlighted some serious issues that Anwar needs to deal with. The first is the Malaysian psyche has never been as polarised along religious, sectarian, racial and ideological lines as it is today. These are great divisions that cannot be easily bridged. The best one can hope for is some form of detent or agreement to disagree. The second is Anwar’s hold on power is at best tenuous and fragile. This means his mandate will always be challenged in and out of Parliament. The third is the opposition this time round isn’t the rag tag motley crew that it was in the last elections. This time round they seem to have established a respectable foothold in the rice belts and they are menacing. And finally the biggest question I have is abt Anwar himself. This may seem like the strangest concern, but it isn’t simply because I don’t believe these issues that I have raised can be resolved with a benevolent hand. Ideally that should be the ideal approach. But in practical terms, thats like trying to bring down a 3 ton elephant with a peashooter. What’s needed is the heavy stuff and a PM who can stomach doing what needs to be done……hence for the moment. I much prefer to remain cautiously hopeful abt AI ability to stay on.