A gentleman always keeps his word.

Before GE13, we believed we had plumbed the depths of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's political immaturity. We were mistaken.

We called upon him to behave like a responsible Opposition leader and declare a Manifesto and a Shadow Cabinet well in advance of GE13. Both came at the last minute.

Now, following the revelation by former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla of how Anwar asked him to broker a deal with Datuk Seri Najib Razak to agree to respect the outcome of the election and to behave like gentlemen, a new controversy arises.

Kalla has been crystal clear in accusing Anwar of reneging on the deal that he himself had asked Kalla to broker. The Prime Minister's advisers have confirmed that Najib observed the verbal agreement.
Kalla said that when he aske

d Anwar to respect his own agreement and concede defeat in GE13 the reply was "No, no, no."
After The Wall Street Journal quoted Kalla as saying that Anwar had breached his agreement with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that both men would respect the outcome of GE13, Anwar has flailed about for excuses, including fabricating conditions that Najib allegedly broke terms on the media which were not in the agreement).

It has also been reported that DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng Eng discovered the agreement after reading the WSJ and is furious that Anwar entered this agreement without informing the leadership of Pakatan Rakyat. It seems Anwar was acting on his own, from all the reports. He has not said whether he consulted Guan Eng.

Now Anwar's attempts to propose the agreement to Najib by way of Kalla without consulting his own Pakatan colleagues is nothing compared to the damage he is doing to himself in his rejection of the deal. His rallies and street protests are against the principles of fair play, and he has shown that he is not a gracious loser. He is stoking hatred in his single-minded (and failed) quest for Putrajaya, and he does not care if Malaysia suffers for it.

We have compared Anwar before to a spoiled child who acts out to draw attention. He started in 1998, when he fell out with his mentor, Dr. M, and did not get his way. He is now in the fifteenth year of a tantrum he has thrown over always, always, repeatedly failing to become Prime Minister.

This behaviour is beneath the dignity of an opposition leader, let alone the nominal leader of an Opposition in a parliamentary democracy. Anwar's prolonged tantrum is a disservice to those who elected him again and also to the leaders of the DAP and PAS who compromised to embrace him.

In the interests of the rakyat, be they Barisan or Pakatan supporters or neither, we believe Anwar should now behave like a gentleman. He should concede defeat in GE13.

Either sit in the Dewan Rakyat or don't. Boycott the Parliament if you do not want your seat. Or just do the right thing and file 27 or 28 or 29 or 30 Pakatan petitions and go through the correct court process that is consistent with the rule of law. That would be the behaviour of a gentleman. The constant shouted approach to political discourse, the politics of rallies and stoking emotions is becoming tiresome and, in our opinion, also unproductive for Anwar himself.