The Tengku Razaleigh Factor

Just before the sacking of Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, the then PM, Dato Seri Dr Mahathir managed to rope in Tengku Razaleigh into UMNO, thereby dissolving the party of Semangat 46. Dr Mahathir realised that he could not afford to fight on two fronts at one time. Even without S46 to oppose him, he found that victory was not imminent; he had to finally throw in the towel, so to speak.
1.  Tengku Razaleigh has been one of the rare breed of independent minds in Malaysian politics.
2.  He seems to be holding fast to a certain set of principles.
3.  He has spoken his mind at several important junctures in the nation's history, and in some instances, turn them into reality.
4.  That he can do that with apparent impunity points to the man's integrity.
5.  He is an otherwise plain politician with no major role in the present government.
6.  Unlike his once-peer and once-rival, Tun Musa Hitam,  the Tengku does not seem to have interest in any of the worldly affairs, such as business enterprise.
7.  There also seem to be no skeletons in engku Razaleigh 's wardrobe, so to speak.
8.  But then Tengku Razaleigh seems not to have a significant following across the nation.
9.  But again he is not vulnerable, and he is even indispensable to BN's hold on his constituency of Gua Musang.
10.Because, or in spite, of all these, the man speaks without fear or favour.
11.  These days, 'without fear or favour' easily translates to critising the power that-be, and favoring the opposition.
12.  Tengku Razalegh spoke against what he sees as the injustice of the Federal government to the Kelantan people regarding the 'oil royalty-ehsan' issue.
13.  He has just spoken against the state of the judiciary being manipulated so much so that another absurd allegation of sodomy can be entertained so seriously in its courts.
14.  Tengku Razaleigh is a sole voice of conscience among the otherwise impotent and subservient MPs of the ruling government.
15.  So far, his calls towards greater justice have not been heeded.
16.  By ignoring the Tengku, the PM of today seems convinced that he can afford to fight on more than one fronts, and come out victorious.  The people shall be the witness.