Anwar said it was a “strange coincidence” that both Malaysia and Israel had hired Apco. — Picture by Danny Lim
LONDON, March 19 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has described a possible censure over his allegations in Parliament that 1 Malaysia was copied from Ehud Barak’s 1 Israel as a “rotten joke”.
The Permatang Pauh MP also insisted that it was a “strange coincidence” both the Malaysian and Israeli administrations had hired public relations consultants, Apco Worldwide.
When quizzed about Apco’s denial of having coined either term, Anwar countered: “Then what are they taking money for? To pay for what? Apco should not be involved in domestic politics in our country.”
While admitting that the timing was circumstantial, he said the onus was still on the government to explain Apco’s involvement transparently.
Barisan Nasional (BN) had insisted that Apco, which The Malaysian Insider understands was contracted for a sum of RM20 million, was not involved in the conception of “1 Malaysia” and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has said that the matter of referring the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmaker to the Rights and Privileges Committee would be discussed in the Cabinet.
The PKR de facto leader, whose party has been rocked by the loss of several MPs recently, also explained that his allegations had been taken out of context, and was in fact, a retort against Umno’s persistent accusations that the former deputy prime minister was a pawn of Jewish interests.
“Let’s put it in context. I have no problems with Jewish advisors but Umno leaders have been using this Jewish connection to claim that there is a conspiracy and Anwar is an agent of the Jews,” he said in a press conference after speaking at the London School of Economics yesterday.
Instead, he said that Umno Youth chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, was the one making false accusations, after the Rembau MP had brought up Anwar’s tenure as chair of the Washington-based Foundation for the Future, which Khairy claimed was a Zionist organisation.
Anwar insisted that it was an initiative by various governments, including the United States and members of the European Union, and therefore, Khairy should be the one being referred to the Rights and Privileges committee.
“Umno befriends nasty Jews and some of them are Zionists,” he added.
Anwar will speak again today at Westminster University after a busy schedule that also included meetings with Al Gore and Mary Robinson, former vice-president of the United States and former president of Ireland respectively.
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