Anwar believes Pakatan is ready even without him !!

He said Pakatan was already a solid united pact with potential young successors including Azmin who he said may be brash in his "stunts" but more than capable to lead.

(free Malaysia Today) - Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is confident in Pakatan Rakyat’s second tier of leadership and discounted the notion that the pact will collapse in his absence.

Speaking at a closed door dialogue session with young professionals here, the PKR de facto leader said the pact was armed with young and more than capable leaders that can take Pakatan forward should he be convicted and jailed for sodomy.

“Once you’re prosecuted you’re already damned,” he said laughingly to some 150 people who attended the forum.

Anwar is currently facing trial for allegedly sodomising his former aide, a charge he claimed was engineered by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor.

Anwar’s persona, attributed to his charisma and moderate liberal politics, is seen as the binding force in the Pakatan coalition rife with infighting.

The top leadership appears to be gelling well but much of their ideological differences remain conveniently buried for now and Anwar’s possible incarceration would possibly break Pakatan.

Whether or not the bloc is ready for future without Anwar remains unknown. While it is likely that Anwar has identified his successor, Azmin Ali who is now PKR deputy president who happens to be his blue-eyed boy, observers say the latter lacks the calibre to lead and hold Pakatan together.

But the opposition leader claimed Pakatan was already a solid united pact with potential young successors including Azmin who he said may be brash in his “stunts” but more than capable to lead.

“Sometimes when the (current) leadership is too strong, we tend to not see the potential of second tier leaders,” he said, referring to rising political starlets like PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli and communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad who is also Seri Setia assemblyman.

He said this in reply to a youth during the forum who urged Pakatan to move away from its dependency on political icons and based their struggle more on ideologies.

Anwar added that differences and open spat in Pakatan was part and parcel of a democracy which he said the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was bankrupt of.

“Do you see any quality MPs in Umno or BN? Sometimes when I’m in Parliament and I look at them (sighs),” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

M1