"I don't know. You have to ask him."

– Anthony Loke on Anwar’s numbers game

COMMENT | Anwar Ibrahim's meeting with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah tomorrow could be the culmination of his ascendancy to the highest office of the land or it could be the final nail in the coffin for a political operative who started a political upheaval which broke the hegemonic control of Umno but not "ketuanism".

Anwar did not inherit a ready-made opposition. He had to cobble one together to wage war against the Umno hegemon, which at one time included the previous prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was briefly an extremely influential operative in Pakatan Harapan and who still has his slavish devotees.

The fact is that Mahathir and his acolytes have abandoned Harapan and are now hoping to either be kingmakers or spoilers is to the benefit of people who either want to sustain the hegemony they enjoyed or never want to see Anwar become prime minister.

The fact that the old maverick considered and then reconsidered his decision...