Still PM in waiting?

SEPT 16 - No matter how you cut it, today was a bad day for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.Watch this date, Sept 16, he has been telling Malaysians. I will take power by Sept 16, he kept repeating.Now, he says his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance is ready to take power, and that it has the support of more than the required 31 Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs for it to form the federal government.But he will not do it yet. He has a list of names which he will show only to the prime minister so that a smooth handover of power can be negotiated.One should always call a spade a spade. In this case, Anwar's claim is a game of charades which is being inflicted on this country.If he has the support there is no reason to believe he would not show the list of names to all Malaysians.For all those Malaysians who felt their intelligence insulted by Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar when he said Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng had been arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for her own protection, here is another one courtesy of Anwar.But more than an insult, what Anwar attempted today is an insult to all right thinking Malaysians who yearn for reform, and who have placed their hopes in Anwar and his PR alliance of parties.Today represents a hammer-blow to the credibility of Anwar and his allies.Malaysians who voted for PR parties in the March elections wanted change. Many were fed up with what they perceived to be the widespread corruption and arrogance of the BN government.The strong message sent to the BN government also revived the flagging relevance of Anwar.Anwar, ever the ambitious politician, smelled blood and instinctively went for the kill.But his failure to deliver has inflicted a serious wound on the opposition parties. It is a question of credibility.No one demanded that the PR alliance form the federal government by Sept 16.Anwar made the pledge.To be fair, the DAP and PAS tried to distance themselves from the pledge, but was eventually persuaded in the name of unity to endorse the idea.This is not to say Anwar will never become the prime minister of a PR federal government.It did not happen today. Politics is such that it can happen on another date.Questions must now be asked, though, about what Anwar is putting the country through, although the BN parties are also to be blamed for the political uncertainty Malaysia is experiencing.But the PR parties and Anwar are supposed to be better. They were supposed to be different from BN. Better even.As September drew nearer, the question on everyone's lips was will it happen?After today, the question may be when will all these games end?