Anwar more dangerous in prison than on the outside, warns Ambiga

Putrajaya will soon realise it has made a mistake in incarcerating Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, warned lawyer and activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan today, saying that the opposition leader was more dangerous inside prison.

She said that despite being convicted of sodomy and sentenced to five years in jail, Anwar should not be discounted.

"Don't discount him. He is at his best when he is down‎. BN (Barisan Nasional) will see that it has made a terrible mistake in imprisoning him‎," she said at a forum at Malaysiakini office in Petaling Jaya tonight.

Ambiga, who is the former Bersih 2.0 co-chair, said Anwar was a bigger factor than ever before.

"He symbolises what our struggle is about. He becomes ‎a rallying factor for Pakatan Rakyat," she added.

"Without Datuk Seri Anwar, there will be no PR."

In a strongly-worded speech, Ambiga, referring to the internal conflicts in the coalition, said that Pakatan now had no choice but to unite for the interests of the people.

"This is something that we are anticipating, and that we demand of Pakatan Rakyat.

"With Datuk Seri Anwar in jail, you have to step up and stop internal bickering. It is very tiring for the people to see this," she said.

She also noted that Pakatan Rakyat was made up of politicians who are intelligent and talented, unlike ministers from the ruling BN government, whom, she noted, "could not string a sentence that made sense".

"Are you telling me you can't solve your problems? I don't accept that," she told Pakatan.

"You have no choice but to unite and I demand and the people demand that you do."

Ambiga, who previously led two massive rallies in Kuala Lumpur to demand for clean and fair elections, said there was no reason to demonstrate against Anwar's conviction although most of the people were disgusted with the Federal court's decision.

"The difference between 1998 and 2015 is the existence of social media. It has allowed the people to get the message."

She also revealed that Anwar, who is serving his sentence at the Sungai Buloh prison, was sleeping on a two-inch thick mattress.

"This is what a 67-year-old man is going through because BN has no guts to take him on in Parliament.

"What we are seeing here is the extent of the cruelty of this government. I don't like it one bit. Nobody deserves it," she added.

Also present at the forum were Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong, Parit Buntar MP Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa, social activist Hishammuddin Rais and Batu MP Tian Chua, who said Anwar has helped create awareness to use people’s power to bring about change.

"In 2008, the two party-systems existed because the public demanded good governance," he said of the general election that year which saw Pakatan denying BN its traditional two-third majority by winning 82 parliamentary seats and also capturing four states – Kedah, Perak, Penang and Selangor while retaining Kelantan.

Mujahid noted that following Anwar's second sodomy conviction on Tuesday, there was no major street protest.

"It does not mean that people are insensitive. The BN should not misinterpret such a conduct."

Pakatan, he said, could move forward without Anwar's leadership if it found solutions to its internal problems.

"The only thing is that we have to stop telling the public that we have no problems. Admit that we do.

"And then, we must also give a time frame for when we can resolve these issues," he added.

Hishammuddin said it was an uphill task for Pakatan to take over Putrajaya unless the public could pressure the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections.

Liew, who is also DAP political education director, said that Pakatan wanted to see the end of Umno just like the congress party in India.

"The coalition must be defeated in the next election by a landslide."

He added that the coalition's immediate campaign is to ensure that Anwar remained safe and secure in prison.

"We must exert pressure to see that he will be treated decently," he said. – February 12, 2015.