September 20, 2008
Falling from Mahathir government minister to solitary confinement in jail, Anwar Ibrahim's star is once again on the rise and rise. Photo: Reuters
ANOTHER long day in the Malaysian capital. Two hours to sunset and the breaking of the day-long fast in the third week of the holy month of Ramadan, Anwar Ibrahim has spent hours in tense discussions with partners in his opposition coalition.
At his suburban office, Mr Anwar appears in bare feet and apologises for a short delay while he says his fourth round of prayers for the day. Fifteen minutes later, the opposition leader is back, shod now in black ostrich-skin brogues, to talk about his extraordinary bid to convince the Malaysian Government that, despite its apparent majority in parliament, he should be in charge.
The psychological warfare is getting fraught. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had said Mr Anwar was a "threat to the economy and possibly security" — indicating the opposition leader could fall foul of the draconian Internal Security Act.
In a formal statement yesterday, the US State Department said Mr Abdullah's remark was "extremely troubling" and Washington viewed with "grave concern" the possibility the security act might be used to detain opposition political figures.
Mr Anwar wonders if he is heading back to prison. "When the prime minister, in any developing country where these sorts of security laws are in operation, states that you are a threat to the economy and possibly national security, then the next option is to arrest," he says.
A decade ago, when Mr Anwar was deputy prime minister, his bid for power against then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad ended in disaster.
Hit with highly questionable charges of sodomy and trying to interfere with a police investigation, he spent six years in jail. He was released in 2004 when the more conciliatory Mr Abdullah succeeded Dr Mahathir.
Now 61, Mr Anwar has closed in on the former Barisan Nasional (National Front) ruling coalition that so humiliated and punished him for his "reformasi" bid in 1998.
In March, his improbable People's Alliance of three diverse parties — his People's Justice Party, the leftist, ethnic Chinese-based Direct Action Party, and the All-Malaysia Islamic Party — broke Barisan's two-thirds majority in the federal parliament, and won control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.
On August 26, Mr Anwar won a byelection with a huge majority, despite having another sodomy charge laid against him shortly before the vote.
This week, Mr Anwar announced he had "more than enough" defections from Barisan MPs to form a government, and asked to meet Mr Abdullah to effect a smooth transfer of power. Unsurprisingly, Mr Abdullah derided the request, as he did Mr Anwar's later call to reconvene parliament.
Barring an unlikely intervention by Malaysia's king, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, Mr Anwar faces a nervous wait until parliament resumes on October 13.
He faces a relentless onslaught on his credibility by the state-controlled broadcast media and the mainstream newspapers.
He and his colleagues are also at risk from the highly politicised police, whose secretive Special Branch has morphed from its original role of fighting communist insurgents into one of keeping Barisan in power.
The Special Branch wields the Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be held for 60 days at its Buket Aman headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, where interrogators specialise in "turning over" (breaking down) detainees through prolonged questioning, sleep deprivation, humiliation and disorientation. Then they can be locked away without trial for renewable two-year terms.
Last Friday, the Special Branch arrested member of parliament Teresa Kok, an ethnic-Chinese member of Mr Anwar's alliance, after a newspaper ran spurious reports that she had tried to stop a mosque broadcasting the morning call to prayer.
The country's best-known blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was also taken in under the security act, while another journalist was briefly detained.
Ms Kok was released yesterday after a week's detention, and Mr Abdullah seemed to back off his implied threat. But Mr Anwar's team is acutely aware that only five arrests of MPs could change a no-confidence vote, if and when it happens.
"When a party has been in power for more than half a century, to imagine losing their grip on power is going to be horrendous, unthinkable and they may resort to this measure," Mr Anwar said.
But he has his work cut out explaining to ethnic Malays why the positive discrimination of the past 40 years — preference for university places, government jobs, finance credits, cheaper houses and a 30% slice of new investments — mostly benefited a tiny, well-connected elite through Barisan founding party the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and its networks of cronyism and patronage, and should be replaced with policies based on need rather than race.
On the other side, non-Malays wonder about his Islamist background and recall his role implementing pro-Malay discrimination as an UMNO minister.
"It took us a while to come to terms and go from Mr Anwar who was education minister and actually did a lot of damage to the Chinese school system, to the new reformist Mr Anwar," said Dominique Ng, a Kuching lawyer who won a Sarawak state seat for Mr Anwar's party in March.
Mr Ng is now convinced that "the new Mr Anwar can be the one who saves Malaysia".
Mr Anwar doesn't regret his years in the Mahathir government.
"With all the faults and limitations of UMNO at that time, it was never this blatantly corrupt and arrogant," he said.
He could have protested more loudly against the Mahathir government's security act arrests and sacking of judges, but had still hoped to change the system from within.
"Having said that, I've suffered enough, I've repaid for the years I was in government," he said with a smile.
His agenda for Islam in Malaysia is one he's been pursuing in speeches and writings for many years: Malaysia should keep Islam as its state religion, but not become an Islamic state, accepting its pluralism.
But his jail ordeal strengthened his concern for freedom. "Being six years in prison, solitary confinement, teaches you quite a lot," he said. "The passion for democracy, for justice, is far more pronounced … Basically these years of sojourn and wilderness did help.
"You empathise with people as people. I am very Malay, I love the language, I follow the Indonesian literature a lot … I am also a committed Muslim. I fast, I pray, but that does not make us intolerant of other cultures."
"So who am I?" Mr Anwar says. "They say I'm a chameleon because to the Western journalists I sound liberal, to the Muslim crowd I echo the Koran.
"It's true — I don't go into the little village and quote Shakespeare, and when I talk to Chinese I use a few words of their language and quote Confucius. But the fundamental pillars remain unchanged … I am still a Malay, a committed Muslim, and very much a Malaysian."
DAYS OF TURMOIL IN MALAYSIA
1997 Asian financial crisis spells end of decade of impressive economic growth.
1998 Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad (below) sacks his deputy and presumed successor, Anwar Ibrahim, on charges of sexual misconduct, against the background of differences between the two men over economic policy; Anwar arrested.
2000 Anwar is found guilty of sodomy and sentenced to nine years in prison. This is added to the six-year jail sentence he was given in 1999 after being found guilty of corruption following a controversial trial.
March 2001 Dozens arrested during Malaysia's worst ethnic clashes in decades between Malays and ethnic Indians.
April 2001 Demonstrations against the Internal Security Act following the detention without trial of Anwar's supporters.
October 2003 Abdullah Badawi (below) takes over as Prime Minister as Mahathir steps down after 22 years in office.
March 2004 Prime Minister Abdullah wins landslide general election victory.
September 2004 Anwar freed after court overturns his sodomy conviction.
May 2007 Anwar's People's Justice Party loses a bitterly contested byelection to the Government. The result is seen as a blow to his efforts to revive his political career.
March 2008 The ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (National Front), suffers its worst election result in decades. It loses its two-thirds parliamentary majority and control of five states.
July 2008 Anwar arrested over allegations of sodomy in a move that elevates political tensions.
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Showdown Imminent
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 19 (IPS) - Malaysian politics is heading for a showdown with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanding that the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi subject itself to a confidence vote in parliament by Sep.23.
Anwar’s demand comes as a shock to the ruling Barisan Nasional or National Front (NF) coalition which has ruled without interruption for five decades, growing complacent until the Mar. 8 general election in which voters punished it giving the Anwar-led opposition 82 seats in parliament, just 30 seats short of a simple majority to form the government.
The NF coalition also lost five states to the opposition sending shock waves through the political establishment.
Since that historic date Anwar has been persuading NF backbenchers to defect with a view to forming a simple-majority government, despite worries that such tactics were ‘unethical’ and ‘immoral’ and the fear that once down that road there is no turning back.
On Apr. 1 Anwar had solemnly vowed to achieve defections and topple the government by Sep. 16. But parliament is in Ramadan recess until Oct. 13 and the government appears to be taking refuge in it.
Anwar, who faces a sodomy trial starting on Sep. 22, said on Thursday that he now has the numbers gathered from among reformist lawmakers who are secretly committed to toppling the government.
‘’Abdullah’s days are numbered, the people truly want a change,’’ Anwar told IPS in an interview. ‘’They want equality, justice and a democracy accountable to the people.’’
However, an upset and angry Abdullah has dismissed Anwar as a liar and impostor who does not have the numbers claimed, and has dismissed the constant refrain to topple the government as the act of a desperate individual making empty promises.
Reacting within hours of Anwar’s ultimatum, Abdullah said he will not order parliament to convene because it just went into recess. ‘’Whatever no confidence resolution… they can to it after parliament opens,’’ he said.
Political insiders say the outright rejection is a signal that a major crackdown is about to be ordered.
Most alarming to civil society leaders is the warning Abdullah issued on Sep. 17 that Anwar’s grab for power is a threat to national security and would endanger the economy by affecting the flow of foreign investment.
‘’I will do what I have to do to protect and economy and save the country,’’ Abdullah told reporters, sparking immediate fears that a major crackdown against opposition lawmakers and human rights advocates would soon be unleashed invoking the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA).
Already the government has detained a prominent lawmaker and a blogger, both allied with Anwar, under the ISA that allows for indefinite detention without trial.
‘’He (Abdullah) is mixing up what are essentially issues of democracy, freedom and the rule of law with national security. The use of the ISA to harass and detain duly elected political opponents is a grave transgression of the law and its continued use would further erode confidence in the current government and exacerbate political instability,’’ Anwar said.
Anwar said that Malaysians and investors were for comprehensive reforms, including judicial independence, a free media, a professional police force and investor-friendly laws.
Anwar has been detained under ISA laws twice before, once as a radical student leader in the 1970s and again in 1988 after he crossed swords with then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who had him charged with sodomy. He spent six years in jail and was acquitted of the charge in 2004 by the country’s highest court.
‘’It appears everything is heading for a climax and a major security crackdown is possible,’’ a prominent lawyer who did not want to be identified told IPS. ‘’I myself am a target,’’ he explained.
Investors have been pulling out money from Malaysia stocks since the March election results, fearing political uncertainties would be prolonged. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange has dropped below the 1,000 point resistance level, largely because of political fears but also because of the global financial crisis.
‘’The recent developments coming together are adding a new and dangerous dimension to the country’s troubled politics. It is giving a clear impression that a climax is rushing up,’’ the lawyer said.
Anwar is not rebuffed by Abdullah’s rejection of his demand for convening a special session of parliament.
‘’The opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition will convene an emergency meeting to discuss our next course,’’ Anwar said in a statement on Thursday. He also said he may seek an audience with King Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin who, although a constitutional monarch, has powers to convene parliament, dismiss a prime minister and invite a person enjoying the confidence of a majority in parliament to form a new government.
However the king has yet to be convinced that Anwar has a majority of lawmakers behind him.
According to constitutional expert Shad Faruqi the issue can only be settled on the parliament floor through a confidence vote. ‘’Otherwise, he can go to the palace and have tea,’’ Faruqi told ‘The Sun’ daily on Sep. 18.
(END/2008)
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Malaysia's Anwar Moves Closer to the Endgame
Asia Sentinel
| Jed Yoong | |
| 19 September 2008 | |
| As the opposition leader increases the pressure, the nation's biggest political party asks the prime minister to leave Anwar, who leads the Pakatan Rakyat, or People's Alliance, demanded Thursday that Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi convene by Tuesday an emergency session of parliament, which is now in recess for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, to allow a no-confidence vote against the premier. Abdullah Badawi was weakened further Thursday when the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), which has two lawmakers in parliament, said it would quit the Barisan Nasional, or national ruling coalition. SAPP president Yong Teck Lee said the party would become independent, but attacked the government, saying that "the Barisan Nasional has lost its moral authority to rule." Yong is said to be close to Anwar ever since the latter enticed him to switch sides in Sabah state elections in 1994. The party has split with two federal lawmakers and two state legislators sticking to Yong, and another two state legislators moving to a splinter party. Yong’s Deputy disagreed with SAPP's move and resigned from SAPP The Barisan itself has been on a downward spiral since March 8, when it lost its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time since Malaysia became an independent country 50 years ago. Abdullah Badawi has largely been made the scapegoat, partly because he is perceived as weak leader, partly because of implacable attacks by the former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and partly because of deteriorating economic fundamentals as the global economy goes into decline. With Anwar breathing down their necks, senior leaders, including cabinet ministers, of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest ethnic party that helms the Barisan Nasional, held an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur last night to openly call for Badawi's resignation as party president and the country's prime minister. Such a move is rare among the usually-complaisant politicians. But the editor of a popular Malay-language weekly says UMNO may be united in "hatred" for Anwar. Within UMNO itself, said a Kuala Lumpur political observer with ties to the party, the concern about Anwar taking over could trigger the use of the ISA against him. Abdullah Badawi threatened to use the law against Anwar on Tuesday. There is considerable concern among UmNO stalwarts that if Anwar takes over, he will seek to prosecute some top officials for corruption, along with law enforcement officials who engineered his imprisonment in 1999 on sexual deviation and corruption charges. Concern about Anwar could also cause UMNO's leaders to hold their noses and select Najib Tun Razak, the scandal-scarred deputy prime minister, to replace him although Najib is saddled by numerous allegations of corruption as well as complicity in the October 2006 death of a 28-year-old Mongolian translator who is widely believed to have been his lover before he handed her on to his best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda. Badawi tried to neutralize his possible forcible ejection from the leadership by swapping portfolios with Najib on Wednesday. Najib is the now finance minister while Badawi is also defense minister, a position held by Najib for 14 years. Badawi told a press conference Wednesday that he could leave earlier than 2010 under his announced plan to hand the premiership to Najib. "I will decide when I want to go. I will not be staying more than 2010," he told reporters. "If I should want to go earlier, that is flexible. That is the flexibility we have arranged. It depends on the progress of the role I am giving to Najib. Let's see what he can do." Mahathir, who has carried on a three-year vendetta to rid the leadership of Abdullah Badawi, has issued an ultimatum to Najib to take over or be taken out along with the prime minister. If Najib takes over, however, that will be handing the leadership of UMNO back to the same people who raised popular disgust over corruption and nepotism in the party. In addition to the possibility of being jailed under the ISA, Anwar also faces charges that he sodomized a 23-year-old aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Despite the fact that the doctor who examined Saiful found no evidence of sodomy, the government appears to be going ahead with plans to charge Anwar via a bill rushed through parliament to compel the opposition leader to give a fresh DNA sample. Anwar originally said he would overthrow the government on September 16. When that didn't happen, the non-event was derided by members of the Barisan Nasional, with the loudest voices coming from within UMNO. Anwar initially set Sept 16, the day that Malaysia was formed when Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo merged with Malaya in the peninsula, as the date that he will take over federal government, The criticisms ranged from calling Anwar an outright liar to mobile text messages joking that Anwar really meant "chairs" -- kerusi in Malay also means "seat" -- from Ikea and that the "chairs" will be delivered once parliament reconvenes. |
Malaysia's 50-year-old political infrastructure is in danger of coming completely apart, with opposition leader 
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