Anwar promises proof of BN blackmail

By Lee Wei Lian

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says he will expose how threats and inducements are used against Pakatan Rakyat state assemblymen and members of parliament in his speech in parliament tomorrow.

“I am going to show proof of blackmail in my parliament speech tomorrow,” the federal representative for Permatang Pauh told reporters today.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders have been under ferocious pressure with talk of defections rife ever since three Perak state representatives switched their support from the fledging coalition earlier this month giving BN a lead in the state assembly and causing the ouster of Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaludin.

It is speculated that the proof that Anwar plans to present tomorrow will be related to the resignation of PKR’s Bukit Selambau state assemblyman V Arumugam on February 8. The resignation was allegedly due to pressure exerted by BN on Arumugam to defect.

Arumugam had lodged a police report on various threats he received but claims no police action was taken.

Apart from Kedah, BN is also rumoured to be on the prowl in Selangor where a PKR led Pakatan government holds an eight seat advantage over BN.

Last week, PKR’s Port Klang assemblyman Badrul Hashim Abdullah had to deny allegations that khalwat charges are being used against him in order to force a defection to BN.

Most recently, naked photographs of PKR’s Bukit Lanjan state representative Elizabeth Wong have been leaked to the media and Pakatan Rakyat has been quick to label the photos as BN’s attempt at gutter politics aimed at discrediting the Selangor state government with which Wong was a state executive councillor.

In a possibly related incident, a man named Ramlan Haji Abu Bakar who claims to be president of Gerakan Reformasi Rakyat Malaysia (Reformis) met with reporters in Parliament today and told them that he was issuing PKR vice president Azmin Ali with an ultimatum to meet him within five days or he would expose what he claims would be damaging secrets of the Selangor government.

In response, Azmin told reporters that he had been away performing his umrah in Mecca and then preoccupied with the political crisis in Perak which was the reason why he was not able to get in touch with the president of Reformis.

Azmin also told reporters that he installed a CCTV system in his house two days ago due to security concerns as his house was broken into four times within a year and both brake hoses in his car were recently cut. “When my house was broken into, it was not an ordinary burglary,” he says. “They wanted to put something into the house.”

On a separate topic, Azmin said that PKR would continue to defend embattled state representative Wong, and that all PKR members of parliament and state representatives would be meeting tonight to discuss the issue.