Anwar S Bromance With Tainted Leaders Leaves Us Forlorn

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YOURSAY | ‘We can judge a person by the company he keeps.’
COMMENT | Anwar's choice of advisers deeply disturbing
Vent: I’m still trying to wrap my head around this unlikely bromance. Where did it come from and where is it going more importantly?
The only bond that binds them appears to be incarceration and royal pardons. For starters, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is such a controversial figure in Thailand. Secondly, he’s not a Muslim, Anwar’s preferred buddy type.
While Takshin has been accused of lèse-majesté, Anwar is an obsequious hand-kissing royalist.
But more significantly, the Thai court prohibited him from leaving the country without permission under the terms of his bail pending the trial on lèse-majesté and computer crime charges over an interview broadcast in South Korea in 2015.
So is Anwar thumbing his nose at the Thai authorities and judiciary by meeting him and appointing him as an “adviser” to Asean?
Can he or indeed Malaysia afford to snub Thailand by appointing Thaksin, still under the jurisdiction of the Thai courts, to this dubious post? What's the motivation?
Perhaps it may boil down to just wanting to be involved in peace efforts in Southern Thailand to score points with the Ummah.
Heck, if former Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy can score points with Aceh, why can’t Anwar do the same for his brethren in Southern Thailand?
But certainly, a more horrendous choice is that of former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, who has blood on his hands and has practised blatant nepotism in the appointment of his son to succeed him as prime minister.
I guess we will just have to watch the space and see how these appointments play out, not only with the Thai authorities but more crucially with Asean.
Cogito Ergo Sum: It’s a tragedy that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s informal appointees in Asean have more in common with his agenda than that of the regional organisation.
Anwar is sending the wrong signals that Malaysia, its diplomats and he, are incapable of chairing a regional group.
Recent appointments domestically reflect something amiss as well. The appointments of disgraced former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa, to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) board; and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter, Nurulhidayah, to Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) board of directors make one wonder what in the world is wrong with him.
Unfortunately, it appears that Malaysia’s chair of Asean is off to a poor start and is expected to finish worse, tarnishing the regional grouping’s image as a serious player in trade and diplomacy.
Anwar is more concerned about his image in the Middle East, in which he has failed to make any mark.
Quo Vadis prime minister?
Proarte: Former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen was the henchman of the genocidal and infamous Pol Pot for many years. Hun Sen too, has been widely reported to have blood on his hands and was an autocratic leader.  
Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted from his position as prime minister of Thailand and fled the nation after being sentenced for corruption.
He has since been pardoned. His support of the Myanmar generals is a black mark in his political career.
However, it must be said he was popular amongst the B40 of his nation who did see improvement in their lives during his tenure.
Anwar has happily and shamelessly ditched his carefully crafted fake “reformist” persona after gaining power.
Malaysians have come to realise that Anwar is a political chameleon without principles and whose overriding aim is to hold on to power.
The appointments are a reflection of Anwar’s desire to buttress himself with billionaires who are influential and powerful individuals.
Power is the name of the game. Not human rights, justice, environmental protection, or human dignity.
GP2025: What Malaysians don’t seem to understand is that Anwar is prone to making unilateral decisions based on his whims and fancies and, for some reason, is unable to see what the people see should be the obvious conclusions.
Like wanting to build a school and hospital in bombed-out Gaza! His decisions don’t make sense. But he can get away with it because he is secure because of a memorandum of understanding.
He knows, that no matter what, he won’t lose support from the minorities and he does not need the support of the majority. This is autocratic, not democratic.
The only way to stop him is to remove him.
Cynical: Has the previous Asean chair been able to convince Myanmar's junta to accede to the five-point consensus? If not, why?
Because the junta did not give two hoots about the five-point consensus coming from those preaching from their high horses.
And what can Asean do about it? It is only people like Thaksin and Hun Sen who showed some modicum of respect for the sovereignty of Myanmar that stand a chance of getting the five-point consensus implemented.
The alternative is to continue lecturing and preaching morality to the junta until the cow comes home with nothing to show.
Chefoo: One thing I notice about Anwar is he does things to boost his popularity. Appointing Thaksin will put him in the good books of Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Appointing Hun Sen again will give him the favour of Vietnam Prime Minister Hun Manat. He would sing and swing according to the crowd to be in favour. A seasoned politician indeed.
Plebeian: “It remains unclear what value these foreign advisers can bring to the table that isn’t already there in our own establishment.”
The actions of autocrats are always less perplexing when we understand them to be almost entirely driven by self-interest, which is to enhance their own power and stature.
Then all becomes clear. Very interesting read.
BluePanther4725: Thaksin and Hun Sen are amongst the most corrupt and power-abusing leaders in Asean.
Choosing them as his advisers shows that Anwar condones corruption and abuse of power and shares the same values with them.
Why can’t Anwar choose clean, competent leaders, for example from Singapore? Birds of the same feathers flock together.
The choice of Thaksin and Hun Sen reflects very badly on Anwar.
KK Voter: Anwar is hijacking Asean to promote himself and his Palestinian agenda.
If he were truly focused on Asean, he would address an issue that every country can agree is serious and directly impacting many members - the scam syndicates and the kidnapping and trafficking of citizens to scam centres to work.
Cakap lain bikin lain: We can judge a person by the company he keeps. Hun Sen was a dictator from a small banana republic who was protected by China.
Shouldn’t touch him even with a 10 for pole, let alone appoint him an adviser. - Mkini

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