It is astounding what a press interview can do. But if the interview involves a figure as controversial as Raja Petra Kamarudin, perhaps the shock that has greeted his exclusive conversation with the New Sunday Times, Mingguan Malaysia and Berita Minggu on Jan 1 shows that the unconventional royal has been true to form.

Published just one week before the Jan 9 verdict of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy case, the interview gives much space to Raja Petra, or RPK as he is commonly called, to attack Anwar’s leadership of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.

However, it is not the Selangor prince’s criticism of Anwar that is surprising, since RPK  had declared some years ago that he no longer wanted to champion Anwar’s cause. This is despite the fact that he had been central to the Free Anwar movement that was formed following Anwar’s fall from power in 1998 and his subsequent imprisonment for corruption and sodomy.

What was surprising, or rather revealing, was that RPK had chosen to give an interview to publications owned by Umno or controlled by party loyalists despite their record of virulent criticism of its political opponents.

Thanks in part to his high profile, RPK is privy to a fair bit of the chicanery that permeates the political arena, as he frequently reveals with relish on his Malaysia Today blog. In fact, his reputation as the whistle-blowing editor of the news portal is built on the many exposés that he has published about the goings-on in high office that leave the self-censoring mainstream media looking like a bunch of damp rags. Of all persons, he would have been keenly aware that a special interview with these publi­cations would have, going by their track record of political reportage, the singular effect of undermining the image of the PR coalition and its leaders.

Predictably, RPK’s interview has stirred strong emotions among supporters of Anwar and PR, particularly in the online media, which thrives on colourful, off-the-cuff feedback. A major theme among the online commentators is that RPK has switched sides.

Indeed, despite RPK’s subsequent assertion on Malaysia Today that he is equally critical of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and PR, the explanation does not wash with these erstwhile fans. The timing of the interview, they point out, is suspect and suggests a repeat of the fiasco in April 2011, when RPK gave an exclusive interview to TV3, a powerful tool in the Umno arsenal.

In that episode that was aired on the cusp of the bellwether Sarawak state election, RPK had distanced himself from a statutory declaration (SD) that he had made in 2009 asking the authorities to investigate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for their alleged involvement in the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu. Although RPK had been saying for some time in his blogs and to various media that the source of the information on which his SD was based had turned out to be unreliable, the TV3 interview had been heavily edited to burnish Najib’s image ahead of the important election.

At that time, the then president of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM), Haris Ibrahim, had come out in RPK’s defence, telling the press that, “The suspicion of many thinking members of society is that this interview was distorted and edited for the sole purpose of distorting the truth to those in the longhouses in Sarawak who have no access to alternative news.” Unlike some others, Haris appeared to give RPK, who is chairman of the MCLM, the benefit of the doubt for choosing to give an interview to a media organisation that had been repeatedly accused of spindoctoring, especially in its political coverage.

The latest interview, however, has produced quite an opposite effect. RPK appeared to backtrack on the MCLM’s avowed aim of crea­t­ing a third force for political change in the country, telling the newspapers that the movement had no plans to field any candidates in the next general election.

The reactions came swiftly enough. Haris resigned as MCLM president the following day, saying on his blog that RPK had made a unilateral decision for the movement and that RPK’s statements in the interview greatly undermined Haris’ efforts to bring about change in the country’s political culture.

Two MCLM candidates — National Human Rights Society president Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and human rights lawyer Sreekant Pillai — have also dissociated themselves from the movement.

RPK could not have been unaware that the fateful interview with the mainstream media would virtually erase his standing as a reformist crusader that had been at least a decade in the making. What his motivations were for choosing to change his public persona have been the subject of wild speculation online, but the truth will probably remain an intriguing enigma. However, he is not the first reform-minded public figure to press the reset button, and nor will he be the last.

To all appearances, it is a major coup for Umno’s communications machinery to get a person of RPK’s reputation on the record venting criticism of its nemesis, Anwar, and finding fault with PR’s internal dynamics. Indeed, his message may have some effect on those voters who feel that the coalition is not yet ready for bigger things. However, online comments suggest that many others are not at all persuaded by RPK’s arguments about the coalition’s weaknesses and have even hardened their stand on the need for a new political order to manage the country’s affairs.

Also, it is useful to remember that the agents of change in society are never a homogenous lot. Many who had become fans of RPK, especially when he showed extraordinary courage while he was detained under the Internal Security Act in 2008 for allegedly inciting hatred through his writings, may find it a little hard to adjust their perceptions of the person in the light of the latest developments.

Others who have taken up the cause of forging a new destiny for Malaysia may be called upon to show their mettle in the days and months ahead.

R B Bhattacharjee is an associate editor at The Edge