LETTER | Two tales, two leaders

Man has dual nature; he is both his own person and a member of his country. On the one hand, the law must protect the individual from the injustices of the multitude. History has shown how individuals fall prey to mass perversity, their crime being simply a refusal to conform to the beliefs and prejudices of the majority.

Anwar Ibrahim, The Asian Renaissance, 1997 ( Page 63)

The value system and ethical code therefore determine the success or failure of corrective measures. If the value system is wrong, corrective measures will not be productive or will be only slightly productive. When the value system motivates, very little corrective measures are needed.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, The Malay Dilemma, 1970 (Pages 172-173)

LETTER | Malaysia is our motherland. We love our country. This country has so much wealth. Even though Malaysia has agonised considerably in the past three decades because of the malpractices of corrupted characters, she never failed to provide us with what we need.

Therefore, it is the duty of all Malaysians to re-align themselves by directing the current leaders to put the interest of this country above their own personal agendas. The future of Malaysia is more important than anything else.  

The biggest challenge for us now to identify and elect a good leader to govern us in the near future. This leader should understand the aspirations of all Malaysians. In a democratic process, the people are the master of the nation, not the leaders.

The question is whether we have capable leaders to lead us for the future?

The obvious answer is Mahathir and Anwar.

But, on many occasions, we have seen clashes between them. With the present development, do we have a choice of any other leaders apart from them?

According to Trading Economics, the government debt to Malaysian GDP is projected to stretch 53 percent by December 2020. Hence, the country needs a clean and patriotic leader to overcome the current and future economic debacles. 

Since the late 1960s, Malaysia has produced a number of great leaders, who love this country profoundly. Mahathir and Anwar are among those leaders. 

During their tenure as the prime minister and finance minister, the country emerged as the Asian economic tiger.

Both these leaders have a strong leadership style but their approaches are utterly different. There is a clash of personality between them.

Mahathir has never shown empathy on his enemies especially those who have betrayed him and undermine the interest of this country. He is not willing to forgive them. He always placed the interest of the nation above his own interest. 

At the twilight age, Mahathir is willing to sacrifice himself for the betterment of this nation. He is misunderstood for his "hidden" actions which had ulterior motives for the growth of this land.

Anwar has shown compassion towards his own enemies who have grassed him. The current expulsion of the party members who had played an instrumental role in the downfall of the Pakatan Harapan government has been seen as a delay in action. He had said that he knew the conspiracy for quite some time but reluctant to take any action against the conspirators because they have commanded considerable support within party members.

It is a good strategy because the truth was already presented to the party members and the public. Further, he said the party members had recognised these leaders who had betrayed the elected government and went against with mandate of the people. Even though Anwar was criticised at that time for his procrastination but his reputation remains intact as the people’s politician.

In politics, Mahathir’s approach is preferable compared to Anwar as he takes decisive action to resolve matters. The rise of Mahathir within Umno and subsequently as the prime minister of this country demonstrated his capability to manoeuvre challenges to his own advantage.

Anwar is an idealistic person. By contrast, Mahathir is a pragmatic person. Some commenters have even labelled him a Machiavellian.

When Anwar published his book The Asian Renaissance, it created anxiety among his party members especially the elite group. By then, a discreet system was already in place for the upper-class members of the ruling party to benefit themselves financially. 

Their biggest fear was that if sworn in as the prime minister, he was going to dismantle this system. This system is not only benefitting them but also their cronies. 

Therefore, they have created a hostile environment by portraying Anwar as plotting against his mentor, Mahathir. This triggered his sacking from the government and party positions on Sept 2, 1998.

Even though Anwar has so many good qualities and good support from the general public, there are still people against him.

They are still making efforts to stop him from becoming the next prime minister. They have succeeded twice.

The question is why they want to do it, again? What would they benefit?  

The conclusion

In a nutshell, both Mahathir and Anwar are capable leaders.

They have reconciled. They are determined to strengthen their parties with coalition members for the benefit of this nation.

Anwar is a reformist. He always said he wanted to change the corrupted system. As Malaysians, why not we give him a chance to govern this country and if we are not happy with him, we can use the ballot papers to show our dissatisfaction.

Former US president John F Kennedy once said: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.