The war drums are sounding in the ‘Abode of Peace’

Amanah is staging its national convention in Alor Setar this weekend in the hope of capturing the Malay-majority state of Kedah with the help of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

THE food was simple but the company was something else. Amanah president Mohamad Sabu recently had Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife over to his house for a home cooked dinner.

Some claimed Mat Sabu, as he is better known, seems to have forgotten that Dr Mahathir had once detained him under the Internal Security Act or ISA.

Actually, he has not forgotten because he made sure that one of his sons who was born when he was in detention joined them at the dinner.

Mat Sabu also told his VIP guest that his humble house in Shah Alam was bought for RM90,000 at around the same time.

But all the nasty things the two men used to say about each other are now a thing of the past and Mat Sabu said the dinner conversation was about things other than politics.

He probably did most of the talking because he is such a chatterbox and he can make any topic sound entertaining and amusing,

The two men have grown rather comfortable with each other and the elder man’s presence at Mat Sabu’s house was seen as a signal that the two leaders want to strengthen the bond and work closely in the general election.

It was also a sign of how seriously Dr Mahathir takes his role as Pakatan Harapan chairman.

Dr Mahathir will also be addressing the Amanah national convention in Alor Setar on Saturday.

It is a big deal to have the former premier at the event because Amanah leaders are riding on Dr Mahathir’s Kedah credentials to win seats in the state.

Some of them even want the 92yearold to contest a seat in Kedah.

The Amanah convention was postponed from last month following the death of the Sultan of Kedah.

The trouble is that the uninspiring Pakatan rally in Selangor last weekend has cast a pall over the Amanah gathering.

The mammoth PAS gathering in Terengganu last month has also been like a knockout punch for Amanah.

Had the rally drawn a spillover crowd, this weekend’s convention would have taken off on a high mood and Mat Sabu would be able to crow like a cockerel at dawn.

Amanah will have to try doubly hard to convince Kedahans that the coalition will be forming the next state government.

“Mahathir is the main figure for us, surveys have shown that we are ahead of PAS in Kedah.

“The mood is good and the political situation is encouraging, especially with Mahathir as the leader,” said Amanah’s Kedah election director Datuk Phahrolrazi Mohd Zawawi.

This is Amanah’s second convention since it was formed in 2015.

Pakatan had pinned its hopes on Amanah to replace PAS and deliver the Malay votes.

But everything sort of tumbled downhill after the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar byelections when it became clear that Amanah had to ride on the Chinese.

In private conversations, Pakatan politicians say they are not confident that Amanah can carry its own weight.

“Amanah has not progressed as much as we would have liked. They will be fighting an uphill battle,” said a DAP politician who has spoken at a number of Pakatan ceramah in Kedah.

Technically speaking, Amanah should be ranked third in the Pakatan hierarchy. It has six MPs and seven assemblymen, a number of whom stand a good chance of retaining their seats.

It was supposed to be the Malay heavyweight in Pakatan but its leaders are clinging to the coattails of Dr Mahathir and other Parti Pribumi leaders like Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

It is embarrassing to watch Amanah leaders rush to stand behind Dr Mahathir or Muhyiddin during press conferences. It is unclear what they can gain in being featured alongside these former Umno leaders. Are they hoping that Umno members will support them if they are associated with the former Umno leaders?

Despite its vibrant orange trademark, the party is still struggling with its identity.

They stood out in PAS because they were different from the ulama leaders. But Amanah leaders seem so ordinary and unexceptional now that they are on their own.

Mat Sabu was very popular in PAS because his brand of humour on the PAS ceramah stage provided light relief from the heavy religious overtone of other speakers. He was crowned “Raja Lawak” or the king of laughs.

But the “Raja Lawak” image has become a baggage now that he is the president of a party that wants to be taken seriously.

Amanah is also fighting off propaganda that it is subservient to DAP and a survey by leading pollster Datuk Prof Redzuan Othman showed that Amanah has only about 5% support in Kelantan. How is it going to take on PAS with that kind of support?

Amanah will be contesting in Malay heartland seats against PAS and Umno. It should use its last big party gathering before the general election to draw a clear picture of where they stand on issues that Malays feel strongly about.

The Malay vote will gravitate to whichever party best represents their religion and rights and Amanah will struggle if it plays safe on these issues.

It is also an opportunity for Dr Mahathir to bring it on in his home state.

He is synonymous with Kedah, many people there are proud of his achievements. There are lovely murals of him in town and his family home is a quaint museum that is worth a visit.

Dr Mahathir needs to sell Amanah to Kedahans and deliver a message that will appeal to this Malaymajority state instead of pressing that replay button on kleptocracy and 1MDB and sounding like an old, broken record.