KOTA KINABALU: Former foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim seem to have buried the hatchet after an acrimonious fall-out previously.
On Saturday (Nov 12), Anifah sprung a surprise when he rode together with Anwar as he campaigned with Pakatan Harapan candidates for Putatan and Sepanggar in the 15h General Election (GE15) here.
But analysts said that while this gives a positive impact for Pakatan’s campaign in Sabah, it won’t necessarily mean a windfall in terms of votes.
However, they were not willing to commit if Anifah could attract more votes due to the his family’s political influence, especially with his elder brother Tan Sri Musa Aman having been chief minister from 2003 to 2018.
While Anifah has backed the Opposition coalition, Musa has remained loyal to Barisan Nasional, campaigning for its Kota Belud candidate Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan last week.
“Somewhat distinct from the political stands of others in his extended family, Anifah has always been quite independently minded politically,” said Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Dr Oh Ei Sun.
Oh added that Anifah has been known to articulate his vocal positions on issues especially those pertaining to Sabah rights.
“So, his support should be something quite welcomed by Pakatan and rather unrelated to the political appeal of his other extended family members.
“It remains, however, to be seen if this implies the support of his Parti Cinta Sabah (of which Anifah is the president) for Pakatan as well,” he added.
Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Dr Romzi Ationg also believed that Pakatan will stand to gain from Anifah’s stature in Sabah.
“Anifah is among the prominent leaders in the state thus he will be able to influence voters.
“Not necessarily significantly positive but Anifah has the ability to verbally convince the people (to vote for Pakatan),” he said.
Sabah Universiti Teknologi Mara senior lecturer Tony Paridi Bagang said from his observations, the crowd responded encouragingly to Anifah’s backing of Pakatan.
“Anifah’s appearance will surely boost and motivate Pakatan supporters and indirectly would add value to their campaigns,” he said.
Anifah, who is the PCS president, threw his support behind Anwar last Saturday, saying the latter was the best person for prime minister as he was well recognised overseas where many foreign dignitaries often asked him when he was foreign minister how was "brother Anwar."
"Anwar is a leader who really has the people in his heart," Anifah told the crowd in Sepanggar.
Relations between Anifah and Anwar turned bitter after the 2008 general election when Anwar was trying to cobble a majority through defections after Barisan Nasional led by former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
With Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak replacing Abdullah as PM in 2009, Anifah was appointed foreign minister.
The rift between Anwar and Anifah widened after Anifah allegedly made statements against Anwar in Washington that year.
Anwar then unsuccessfully sued Anifah for allegedly tarnishing his image over his 2009 statement made during a joint press conference with the then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department in Washington.
