WHILE there are those taken up by the seemingly bold moves of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Government to root out corruption in society, doubters are also aplenty.

In the past, it may have been inspirational when leaders promised to go after “the sharks and not only the anchovies” (translated literally from Malay) but today it is received with much cynicism, expressed publicly at that.

The PM and his Cabinet have brought it upon themselves.

The minute this Government was realised and the Cabinet formed, its commitment to combat corruption was diminished.

Though a year had passed since the appointment of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the Deputy Prime Minister, and the subsequent discharge not amounting to an acquittal, or simply DNAA of his 47 cases, they still rankle down the ranks.

Making matters worse, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that is spearheading the battle against corruption is still led by a man so discredited, courtesy of no less than Anwar himself, and the rest of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Pakatan Harapan.

A member of the legal fraternity pointed out that Anwar had an opportunity to redeem himself somewhat in proving himself when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad decided to sue Anwar for defamation.

The defamation suit was filed after Anwar reportedly accused Dr Mahathir of abusing his powers and committing corruption when he was the 4th Prime Minister.

But the legal eagle said instead of proving his accusations against Dr Mahathir in the courts, Anwar continues to use political platforms to cast aspersions on those most identify as his political enemies.

After all, the accusations that Anwar levelled at Dr Mahathir are not something new. It had been bandied since his removal as Dr Mahathir’s deputy in 1998.

The popular claim made by Anwar’s lieutenants then was that he had six boxes of papers documenting Dr Mahathir’s wrongdoings.

It would have been a really good time for the boxes to be submitted to the courts and prove that his accusations all these years were backed with proof.

Instead, Anwar continued to go on the political platforms, making populist assertions and re-iterating his commitment to battle corruption and along the way, nuanced and casting aspersions on his known political nemesis.

Instead of cementing his image as a person intolerant of corrupt practices, some of the anti-corruption operations conducted are viewed suspiciously as more of a political vendetta and not otherwise.

Unfortunately for Anwar, while he is being doubted on his commitment to battle corruption, his underlings decided to expose a purported attempt to bring down the Government through a manoeuvre dubbed the Dubai Move, no different than that of the 2020 Sheraton Move.

Whether they were aware, or thought that the public was unaware of the fact that Anwar, in his quest to become PM, had left behind him a trail of attempts to become one through the backdoor.

Dr Mahathir who was linked to the Dubai Move must have been amused to pen on his social media platform that if there was anyone who is an expert on backdoor governments, it should be Anwar.

He shared some of Anwar’s manoeuvres, the first being the 2008 September 16 Move when he attempted to lure members of parliament from the then-ruling Barisan Nasional to topple the Tun Abdullah Badawi Government.

Another was the 2014 Kajang Move which was an attempt to first install himself as the Selangor Mentri Besar but when he was disqualified, his wife was supposed to be the alternative.

But the move failed and instead, Azmin Ali, then Anwar’s second in command, took the coveted post. There are opinions that the seeds of the enmity between Anwar and Azmin was sown then.

Subsequent to that, Anwar attempted several backdoor government manoeuvres, declaring having the numbers and strong, convincing, and formidable majority to take over the Government between 2020 and 2022, but they never came to anything.

And even when he finally managed to become the PM, it is also after much horse trading and post-electoral pact, including with Zahid which today places him in the credibility predicament.

As such, when his underlings tried to take the moral high ground in condemning the speculative Dubai Move, Anwar was subjected to ridicule.

Accusing their political opponents as traitors, committing acts of treason and betrayal, painting backdoor governments as being immoral and undemocratic had only boomeranged at Anwar.

Enter Zahid, apart from trying to convince all and sundry that the purported Dubai Move is real and not a figment of their imagination, he argued that statutory declarations and support for the opposition are not acceptable in attempts to change the government.

That left a bad aftertaste as in the last few months, the Government was gleeful to accept the support of opposition MPs for the PM.

All in all, it only exposed the hypocrisy and double standards practised by Anwar’s administration.

Simply put, when Anwar and his ilk wanted to change the Government through the backdoor, it was for the betterment of the nation and that it was democratic, legal and noble.

It becomes otherwise when they have to taste their own medicine.