Anwar Ibrahim is simultaneously both the strongest and weakest link the in Pakatan Rakyat coalition right now. His political charisma has allowed DAP and PAS to temporarily bridge their religious / ideological differences for the moment. This has allowed PR to form governments in four states plus Kelantan (which PAS rules outright without the need for coalition).

However, Anwar Ibrahim is just another mortal person. If he gets hit by the proverbial truck while crossing the road or suffers a massive stroke overnight, PR would find itself in strife the next morning. The bonds that bind the coalition together have not been institutionalised (read: gone beyond the political personality of Anwar). There is no obvious successor should Anwar cease being the figurehead of the PR coalition.

This is the same dilemma that People's Party of Pakistan faced in succumbing to the cult of Benazir Bhutto. The moment she was assassinated, the party had no obvious successor and was left floundering despite the massive sympathy vote. Her husband is too tainted by allegations of business corruption during her tenure as PM and her son is too young to take over the mantle.

Having no planned successor means having no planned continuity. The broader point I am trying to make is that so much political capital has been committed by the voters and PR supporters to the cult of Anwar Ibrahim that should anything happen to him there is no apparent successor and hence no continuity in the electoral gains that PR has made so far.

All the PR's eggs are in one basket. Syed Husin Ali, Khalid Ibrahim, Azmin Ali, Tian Chua, Lim Guan Eng, Wan Azzizah, Nurul Izzah, Nik Aziz or Hadi Awang do not strike me as obvious back-up candidates should anything happen to Anwar.

Derek Law speaks of worthy next steps for PR from an (external) policy angle. Even if these policies are successfully executed at the state level, PR is very vulnerable to losing its only real leader. I would suggest that PR's most important internal policy is to raise up capable successors to Anwar's leadership mantle. I can already foresee brickbats within BN licking their lips at any opportunity to 'strike the shepherd in order to scatter the sheep'.