Anwar vs Shabery Debate
I have to take my hat off to Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
His showmanship on tonight's Agenda Daily "Hari Ini Bentuk Kerajaan Esok Turun Harga Minyak" Debate at Balai Budaya Tun Syed Nasir, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka was truly a work of art. He outperformed Dato' Shabery Cheek by a mile. We all know of his world-class oratory skills, and they were on full force tonight.
But that is all just surface, of course. On closer analysis, you will find that Dato' Seri Anwar used a lot of useless arguments. He has a knack of using powerful rhetorics and sensitive sentiments. Words such as "fitnah", "membantu orang miskin", "membantu nelayan", "ekonomi merosot", "rakyat merana", and many many more, were thrown in every rebuttal with reckless abandon. But of course, it wasn't just reckless, it was all part of his grand political plans. He used simple statements sprinkled with sensitive sentiments and repeated it many times to drive home his rhetorics. Anyone with half a brain who listened would've believed him to the death.
PKR's biggest weakness has always been the failure to get Malay votes. It doesn't help that Dato' Seri Anwar is close friends with Paul Wolfowitz, the former Secretary of Defense (read: Zionist, chief architect behind the War on Iraq/War on Islam) and former President of the World Bank (read: IMF). That definitely doesn't pan well with Malay Muslims. Middle class non-Bumiputeras are their largest and strongest supporters, rallying behind PKR's call for a non-sectarian, Malaysian Malaysia. Post-Mahathir times saw the masses supporting Pak Lah to the end, with almost a clean sweep during the 11th Malaysian General Election in 2004. The Malays were generally contented with Pak Lah and the ruling government at that time. PKR did not manage to sway the Malay votes in their favour. Fast forward to today, a few years of mismanagement and poor implementation of promised policies and changes by Pak Lah saw an unprecedented swing of votes. The urban middle class Malays have uttered their disappointments with the current government by voting against it. PKR, PAS and DAP walked away with a surprisingly large chunk of votes.
And then came the oil price increase. Barely months after the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, suffered huge losses in the recent elections. Again, the rakyat as a whole are grumbling, complaining, criticising, cussing at the 40% increase in petrol prices. Such an unpopular policy is bound to create noise and anger among the rakyat, be it Bumiputera or non-Bumiputera alike. Again, a quiet sway of votes are cast against the government, against Barisan Nasional. And then came the sodomy allegations against Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. That, obviously, worked in his favour. Again, reminiscence of 1999, whispers of government conspiracy theories and invinsible pats on his back accompanied by sighs of "kesiaaaan dia kena aniaya, kena fitnah, kena seksa".
I believe that those events leading up to the debate has worked in his favour. The elections, petrol price increase, the sodomy case, to name a few, have all elevated his position that much more. And tonight's debate on national TV was exactly the kind of stage he needed. To throw around rhetorics, play with sensitive sentiments and tug at the hearts of the rakyat, particularly the middle and lower income grouped Malays. He understands the Malay psyche well enough to know how to toy around and manipulate it to serve his own political goals. You can see that the way he moves on the stage overwhelms the words that comes out of his mouth. His showmanship overshadows the measly facts he occasionally throws around.
If you ever studied the human body language, you would have noticed how effectively he uses that skill. Every great orator knows how to play the crowd. How to manipulate the viewers into believing in something, even though it is not based on concrete facts. The facial expression, hand expressions, intonation of voice, all play a crucial role in influencing the audience.
And if you noticed, when the both shook hands Dato' Seri Anwar's hand was placed above Dato' Shabery Cheek's, a stance of dominance. The person who wants to gain that extra psychological advantage, to exert his power, will always place his hands above the recipient's. Next time you see Pak Lah on TV, notice how his hand is always on the lower end, marking the sign of a weaker character. We all know how nice and soft he is, and that is one physical proof of his malleable characteristic.
I personally think the debate was a bad idea. In the name of democracy, freedom of speech and transparency, it was a good and important step. No doubt about it. But if you were to take a step back and analyze the current and recent political climate objectively, you'd know it wasn't a wise move by the ruling government to go ahead with the debate. Tonight was exactly the kind of stage that Dato' Seri Anwar wanted, and needed. He didn't need to take it to the streets. He didn't need yet another sodomy case. He didn't need his blog, and those thousands of other PKR supporter (or anti-BN, anti-UMNO, anti-Pak Lah) blogs. All he needed was a slot on national TV, in one of the most anticipated programs in media history, to take a stand and deliver yet another one of his infamous political speeches.
No doubt the debate was about the oil price, but he meandered so much with political talk I swear that the moderator was paid money to keep mum when he deviated from the topic. More than once, to say the least. Dato' Shabery Cheek did very well to hold his own. His closing statements, in particular, was very strong and hit home a clear, firm message to the masses. Though I do think that although it was all backed up by facts he shouldn't have personally attacked Dato' Seri Anwar too much, that was a mistake. But overall, his rebuttals were based on cold hard facts and his statements were crystal clear, free from emotional and political sentiments.
At the end of the debate, we were trapped in the building for awhile. The reporters went berserk. They were fighting and arguing against each other, pushing and shoving the crowd, throwing punches and kicks at the security guards, yelling at the cops. It was a mad house. Right outside of Dewan Bahasa the streets spilled with PKR's supporters, closely watched by police in full riot gear. I was kind of hoping for a riot to break out, just for amusement sake. But of course at the same time I hope it wouldn't, that would just be crazy.
It was a rather enjoyable night. Not as entertaining as the kedai kopi scenarios at the Parliament, but enjoyable nonetheless.
