Malaysia’s new govt an unlikely alliance bound by common goal: Dr Wan Azizah

KUALA LUMPUR — The unlikely alliance that powered Malaysia’s opposition to victory in the recent election was born of noble intentions, and though it was not easy to look past 20 years of conflict, putting bigger interests ahead of personal feelings was the right thing to do, said Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the country’s newly-minted deputy prime minister.

In an exclusive interview with TODAY, Dr Wan Azizah, the wife of reformist icon Anwar Ibrahim, said she had her doubts when former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad – the man who sacked her husband from his deputy prime minister post and jailed him – offered an olive branch and put forth the plan of joining forces with the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

“It was unusual, it was strange. There was a feeling of, is he really coming in for real?” said the 65-year-old, who is also the Women and Family Development Minister. “But as I got to know him…it became clearer he was committed.”

The alliance, she said, was “what the country needed for the future”, before adding: “And I’m part of the country. I’m Malaysian.”

The move paid off. With Dr Mahathir leading the opposition, PH romped to victory in the May 9 polls, toppling the Barisan Nasional alliance led by former premier Najib Razak.

For the first time since Independence six decades ago, Malaysia ushered in a new ruling bloc, and at the age of 92, Dr Mahathir became prime minister once again and made Dr Wan Azizah his deputy.

The reconciliation between former arch enemies required casting aside the anguish that Dr Wan Azizah and her family endured because of Dr Mahathir, she said, recalling how she was left to support her six children and lead her husband’s reformist political agenda while he languished in prison for eight years on trumped up charges brought by the then premier.

Recalling the early days of opposition, Dr Wan Azizah harked back to the fusillades of tear gas and water cannon used against Mr Anwar and the street demonstrations he led, saying that the painful episodes did give her pause - briefly - when Dr Mahathir came calling.

Explaining the acceptance of her husband’s nemesis, she said: “What is done cannot be undone. So in a sense, I can’t go back in history and change all that.”

“So, okay, let’s move forward. Whatever has happened, I reached the point of accepting it. For Muslims, (there is a concept of) ‘redha’ (acceptance),” she said during the interview, conducted in the library of the family’s home in Bukit Segambut, in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

But while Dr Wan Azizah may have accepted Dr Mahathir’s move as genuine, others within PH are not so sure, and there are fears that history may repeat itself.

To this, she simply says, “give him time”. She notes that Dr Mahathir has “taken all the right steps” at the moment, and pointed out that he had entered the alliance knowing fully well that PH had blamed him for setting up the system they were fighting against.

“He said that he had to correct many wrongs and he himself became a victim of the system,” said Dr Wan Azizah.

“It’s not like he came around ‘la la la’, he was actually being maligned as well. He was maligned by the media, he was actually insulted, and in some instances, as the ex-prime minister of Malaysia, he was not accorded the decorum he deserved. I think that probably shows how much he is committed to the reform agenda.”

Nonetheless, there are already signs of a rift within the coalition as euphoria over an historic victory gives way to the day to day business of governing and jockeying for power. Some leaders of Mr Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), including vice-president Rafizi Ramli, have voiced dissatisfaction over the initial Cabinet line-up.

They argue that PKR deserves the majority of Cabinet positions since it won the most parliamentary seats. They have also questioned some appointments, including that of the Democratic Action Party’s Lim Guan Eng as Finance Minister.

The unhappiness prompted Dr Mahathir and Mr Anwar to step in to calm tensions, with both saying that the consultation process would be made more inclusive.

Admitting that the alliance does have its differences, Dr Wan Azizah nevertheless maintains that “consultation is the answer to it all”.

“That’s what we told the prime minister, that there were voices who said that the PH leadership should have more consultation,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s the prime minister’s prerogative to choose his Cabinet and let him get down to the real business of working for the future.”