[asia-apec 604] Deputy PM Anwar sacked! (part 1 of 2)
PAN Asia Pacific
panap at panap.po.my
Thu Sep 3 12:41:44 JST 1998
The following articles are from:
The Star
September 2, 1998
ANWAR SACKED
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as Deputy
Prime Minister and Finance Minister at 5.30pm today.
A three-paragraph statement from the Prime Minister's Department said
the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Ja'afar had been informed of Anwar's
removal.
But no reason was given for the sacking which ended months of
speculation on Anwar's position following reports of a widening rift
between him and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
No immediate response could be obtained from Anwar, 51.
Policemen took up positions as Umno members and journalists gathered
outside his residence in Jalan Damansara yesterday afternoon, hours
before the statement was issued.
By 5.30pm, the road to his house had been sealed and at 7pm, the Prime
Minister's letter was delivered to Anwar.
Shortly after, his wife Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was seen
driving out alone.
According to Anwar's supporters, she drove to the Prime Minister's official
residence, 100m away, and left before 8pm.
Five days ago, Anwar had told reporters after meeting his Permatang Pauh
supporters in Penang that he was not resigning.
Dr Mahathir had also said on Tuesday after announcing his measures to
regain control of the ringgit that Anwar had not resigned but if his deputy
gave "a very good reason, I will have to accept (it)."
As a student leader, Anwar was detained in 1974 under the Internal
Security Act for two years and was internationally known as president of
the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim).
Once an outspoken critic of the Government, he was persuaded by Dr
Mahathir to join Umno in 1982. He contested for the Permatang Pauh seat
in 1982 and became Umno Youth chief the same year.
That year he was also made Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department, marking his meteoric rise as a leader, and culminating in his
appointment as Deputy Prime Minister on Dec 1, 1993, to succeed Tun
Abdul Ghafar Baba.
Anwar's dismissal extends to all his other positions held in his capacity as
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, including Cabinet committee
posts and the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) deputy
chairmanship.
His position as Umno deputy president is likely to be discussed by the
party's supreme council which has brought forward its meeting scheduled
for Sept 8 to today.
Once described as heir apparent to Dr Mahathir, Anwar was seen to be
sidelined when Tun Daim Zainuddin was appointed NEAC chairman and
later Special Functions Minister after the Umno General Assembly in June.
Till press time, tight security was maintained outside Sri Perdana and
Anwar's houses here and in Penang and journalists camped overnight
outside the places.
Response to the sacking from other leaders ranged from "no comment" to
calls for calm amid speculation over who will take over from Anwar.
Anwar is the third deputy prime minister to have served under Dr Mahathir
who came to power in July 1981. In 1986, Tan Sri Musa Hitam resigned
and in 1993, Ghafar stepped down after Anwar won the Umno deputy
presidency.
Rise and fall of Anwar
By K. Baradan
THE place was the posh Desaru View Hotel's convention centre in Kota
Tinggi. The date was Oct 24, 1993. And the man of the hour -- Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The hall exploded into cheers as Anwar entered. It took the Finance
Minister nearly 30 minutes to make his way to the stage as nearly
everybody who was somebody in Umno was there to congratulate the
46-year-old man who had a day earlier made Umno history.
Just over 10 years after joining Umno in 1982, Anwar had in a few deft
moves, forced incumbent and veteran Umno leader Ghafar Baba to throw
in the towel and walk out of the second most powerful office in Umno and
the country.
Ghafar only managed to secure seven divisional nominations under the
10-vote per nomination bonus system while Anwar sailed through with
145.
It was a humiliating exit for Ghafar and a reminder to others of what can
happen. Anwar was only one rung from the ultimate position of power and
influence in the country occupied since 1981 by Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamad.
It was Dr Mahathir who had defied critics and tradition to bring in Anwar,
a perceived anti-establishment Youth leader into the party in 1982.
Anwar had been head of Abim, an Islamic youth movement that under his
leadership had become a vocal champion of civil liberties, human rights and
a fiery critic of government corruption.
Abim had captured the imagination of Malaysian youth and Anwar's entry
into Umno paved the way for the Barisan Nasional's convincing victory in
the 1982 general election.
From then on, their relationship had evolved from mentor-pupil to
father-son and staunch political allies.
Anwar stood by Dr Mahathir in facing the Tengku Razaleigh
Hamzah-Datuk Musa Hitam challenge in 1987, before gradually turning
into a deputy who could not quite see eye-to-eye with the party leader.
The economic slowdown that hit the country last July provided the
backdrop for the final falling out. At the June Umno general assembly one
of the final acts was played out.
Anwar was widely believed to be behind the issue of cronyism and
nepotism raised by Umno Youth leader Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the
assembly.
In a dramatic turn of events, Dr Mahathir released lists of "cronies" who
had benefitted from the Government's privatised projects and contracts.
Among the names were Zahid himself and members of Anwar's family. The
disclosure silenced his critics and raised doubts over Anwar's credibility,
who had since then not raised the issue.
It has been a fast decline for a once rising star.
Born in Bukit Mertajam, Penang in 1947, Anwar studied at the elite Malay
College, Kuala Kangsar, and Universiti Malaya where he was more noted
for radical student activism than academic achievements.
Upon graduation in 1971 he help found Abim and began a career as a
social critic joining forces with other non-governmental organisations. He
studied, wrote and travelled widely in Asia and the Middle East, making
contacts and mobilising support for youth activities.
In 1974, Anwar was detained under the Internal Security Act for the
Baling demonstrations in support of poverty-hit farmers. Upon his release
in 1976, Anwar continued his Islamic youth activism and by 1982 he had
acquired a formidable reputation as a government critic with a wide
following in the campus, among the literati, Islamic youths and the
international NGO movement.
"Therefore his 1982 entry into Umno was a major coup for the party and
to Dr Mahathir," said a former NGO colleague.
During the eventful year Anwar won the Permatang Pauh parliamentary
seat, was made Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department,
elected Permatang Pauh division chief and in September wrested Umno
Youth's top post from incumbent Datuk Suhaimi Haji Kamaruddin by a
10-vote majority.
He remained as Umno Youth leader until 1987, contested and was elected
Umno vice-president and in 1993 forced Ghafar out to become deputy
president.
Anwar's rise in government was as swift as his climb up the party ladder.
He became Culture, Youth and Sports Minister in 1983, Agriculture
Minister in 1984, Education Minister in 1986, Finance Minister in 1991
and Deputy Prime Minister in 1993.
Much had come to pass between Dr Mahathir and Anwar since that
euphoric October month in 1993 to the Umno general assembly in June
when Anwar came to stand as a rival.
In 1993 Anwar had formed a coalition dubbed the Wawasan Team that
shook the Umno old guard. Although Dr Mahathir and Anwar were
returned unopposed, the Wawasan Team -- Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun
Abdul Razak, Tan Sri Muhammad Mohd Taib and Tan Sri Muhyiddin
Yassin -- won the three vice-president's post along with his endorsed
candidate for the Youth chief, Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik.
During the 1996 assembly, however, the incumbents contested on their
own. Muhyiddin, who had scored the highest votes in the 1933 election,
lost badly while Muhammad Taib managed to squeeze in as third.
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was ousted by the Wawasan
Team three years earlier, made a dramatic comeback by polling the
second highest number of votes.
Anwar's position as the uncontested number two, however, enabled him to
become stronger in the party, sparking talk that he would be considering a
possible challenge for the top post in 1999.
In the years before 1996 and after Anwar had professed his undivided
loyalty to Dr Mahathir. The Prime Minister too, had repeated on a few
occasions that Anwar was his heir apparent.
However, the June Umno assembly opened with a air of expectations and
rebellion. Many smelt blood.
Anwar's key men raised the issues of nepotism and cronyism and the
international media, on cue, hit out at Dr Mahathir who retaliated swiftly by
releasing three long lists of leaders and their relatives who had benefitted
from "positive discrimination" in the awarding of government contracts.
Both also held diametrically divergent views on how to revive the stalled
economy.
But a hastily written book, 50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot be Prime
Minister proved to be Anwar's Achilles Heel. The book detailed sexual
irregularities which Anwar has denied but its wide distribution during the
assembly and severely undermined Anwar's standing in the party.
"Anwar found it difficult to fight down the allegations in the book especially
after holding a high moral ground in politics for two decades," said a
observer.
In the many years that Anwar was touted far and wide, some who knew
Anwar in his student days often repeated a story. One of his teachers had
told Anwar:
"If I have to field a football team, I will not make you (Anwar) the captain".
It was a reminder, said Anwar's critics, that there were fundamental flaws
in his character and leadership.
"Anwar was a orator not a leader . . . his feet or his ears were not on the
ground," said a longterm non-political friend of Anwar.
Anwar surrounded himself with intellectual admirers, theorist and "bookish"
strategist none of whom were political animals schooled in the art of
survival.
"He was strong on Malay language, culture, religion and race but lacked
political savvy and let political opportunities pass," said a academic
observer adding that Dr Mahathir was a formidable opponent who had
survived many trials in his political career that span five decades.
"Dr Mahathir is not a easy pushover like Ghafar Baba," said the academic
adding politics was a constant art of alertness and survival and Anwar was
simply not up to it.
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