Speaking
with reporters, Najib explicitly denied ever meeting Altantuya, and
suggested Anwar's public revelations were an attempt to distract the
public from the sodomy allegations against the Opposition leader. Najib,
however, admitted that he had met Anwar's accuser, Saiful Bukhari
Azlan, who had come to Najib's home several days before filing a police
complaint, but this did not reflect a conspiracy.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUALA LUMPUR 000575
SIPDIS
FOR EAP AND INR
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2028
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PINR, KDEM, MY
SUBJECT: NAJIB FIGHTS BACK; WEEKEND PROTEST FAILS TO IMPRESS
REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 572 - NAJIB IMPLICATED IN MURDER
B. KUALA LUMPUR 570 - GOM DELIVERS PROTEST TO USG
C. KUALA LUMPUR 563 - ANWAR ON OFFENSIVE
D. KUALA LUMPUR 557 - ANWAR TAKES REFUGE
E. KUALA LUMPUR 73 - PROSECUTOR DOWNBEAT ON MURDER CASE
F. 07 KUALA LUMPUR 291 - ALTANTUYA MURDER
Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark, reason 1.4 (b and d).
Summary
1.
(C) As de facto Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim went on the offensive
last week, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak wasted no time in
denying any link to the Altantuya murder case, while diffusing another
bombshell by admitting he previously had met the man accusing Anwar of
sodomy. On July 4, the private investigator who had implicated Najib in
the murder case sat by silently as a lawyer read out a retraction of
his statement publicized only 24 hours earlier.
The rising
political boil led to rumors of potential arrest for Anwar the night of
July 3. A major Opposition political rally in the Kuala Lumpur vicinity
failed to attract critical mass, as some supporters took heed of police
warnings and talk of using the military to ensure order. U.S. remarks
related to the allegations against Anwar continued to generate
opportunistic GOM criticism, including a letter from Foreign Minister
Rais Yatim to the Secretary.
Prime Minister Abdullah felt it
necessary to announce that his government is stable, in the face of
rumors to the contrary, while UMNO leaders prepared themselves for party
elections. A key lieutenant for Anwar Ibrahim assessed that PM
Abdullah did not support use of emergency measures against the
Opposition at this time, and said Anwar would continue with public
rallies.
End Summary.
Najib: I Met Anwar's Accuser, But Not Altantuya
2.
(C) DPM Najib wasted little time in defending himself publicly
following Anwar's July 3 press conference featuring private investigator
Balasubramaniam and his explosive sworn statement linking Najib to the
murder of Mongolian national Altantuya.
Speaking with
reporters, Najib explicitly denied ever meeting Altantuya, and suggested
Anwar's public revelations were an attempt to distract the public from
the sodomy allegations against the Opposition leader. Najib, however,
admitted that he had met Anwar's accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who had
come to Najib's home several days before filing a police complaint, but
this did not reflect a conspiracy.
In a July 30 interview,
Najib had insisted he was not involved in the case at all, while
Opposition sources told us they had evidence and witnesses to the
contrary (suggesting to us that Najib corrected the public record in
order to preempt another disclosure by Anwar).
ISA Fears
3.
(C) In the immediate aftermath of the private investigator's statement
tying Najib to the Mongolian murder victim, swirling rumors regarding
Opposition protests, and public statements by the police alluding to a
possible role for the military in maintaining order, Opposition sources
told us Anwar feared he could be arrested under the Internal Security
Act (ISA) as early as the evening of July 3. As a precaution, Anwar
completed a number of legal declarations with his lawyer during the July
3 afternoon.
To mitigate risks that the planned July 6
anti-government rally could provide a pretext for a security crackdown,
the Opposition decided to shift the venue from an open park to an
enclosed stadium in Shah Alam in line with a request from police.
Investigator's 24-Hour Turn-Around
4.
(C) Najib's camp appeared to conduct a major counterstrike on July 4,
as Balasubramaniam sat in a hastily arranged press conference beside a
lawyer who read out a retraction of the private investigator's statement
that he publicized only 24 hours earlier.
The PI's new
statutory declaration refutes all allegations connected to Najib,
explicitly repeating each of the statements now declared false, and
states that the earlier affidavit was completed under duress.
Balasubramaniam
remained silent and glum in the quick press encounter, in contrast to
his open demeanor the previous day. His about-face occurred after being
called to a police station on July 3, shortly after the Anwar press
conference. Following his retraction, Balasubramaniam with his
immediate family disappeared from public view, with some rumors that he
is abroad.
Tepid Turnout for Key Rally
5.
(C) Rumored plans by the Opposition to stage a protest march in Kuala
Lumpur on July 4 after Friday Muslim prayers failed to materialize,
though police briefing detained two activists at the National Mosque.
Anwar traveled to Opposition-held Penang on Saturday, July 5, to preside
over an Opposition rally there which drew an estimated 30,000
supporters.
The big Opposition event, however, was slated for
Sunday, July 6, in Shah Alam in Selangor state, also in Opposition
hands. Police issued warnings regarding the illegal nature of the July 6
rally, and set up road-blocks in the vicinity, actions that deterred
attendance; however, police did not otherwise attempt to stop the
event.
The all-day affair, at one time billed as a
"million-man" rally, attracted only a modest turnout of some 20,000,
less than the 50,000 capacity of the stadium. Anwar exhorted the crowd
to throw out PM Abdullah's National Front (BN), but did not mention his
earlier deadline of September 16 to bring down the government through
the defection of BN members of parliament.
The greatest stir
of the rally came earlier in the day when a rock band singer flashed his
buttocks to the audience during a performance, outraging the crowd and
causing some conservative Muslim participants from the Islamist PAS
party to abandon the stadium.
U.S. Remarks in the Mix
6.
(SBU) GOM and UMNO party officials continued to criticize both the U.S.
and Anwar over the State Department Spokesman's June 30 remarks
affirming our support for rule of law in light of the sodomy allegations
against the Opposition leader. Foreign Minister Rais Yatim over the
weekend confirmed that he had sent a letter of protest to Secretary Rice
over U.S. interference in Malaysia's internal affairs.
Home
Minister Syed Hamid Albar called Anwar America's "snitch." Education
Minister and UMNO Youth leader Hishammuddin said the UMNO Youth wing
would protest at the U.S. Embassy, as well as at the Turkish embassy
(for sheltering Anwar June 29-30) and the Singapore high commission (for
articles published in Singapore critical of DPM Najib's wife, Rosmah).
Some 40-50 persons, purportedly from the Muslim Consumers
Association, demonstrated briefly and peacefully at the U.S. Embassy on
July 4; some carried signs equating the U.S. and Anwar with Zionism. (
Note:
We forwarded the Foreign Minister's July 4 letter to EAP/MTS. Despite
the high-level criticism, we enjoyed good Malaysian official turnout at
our Independence Day reception, held on July 3.
End Note.)
Prime Minister: Everything Under Control
7.
(SBU) With the political scene buffeted by the Anwar-Najib maelstrom,
and respected international media beginning to remark on Malaysia's
"turmoil," as did the Asian Wall Street Journal, Prime Minister Abdullah
tried to publicly reassure citizens and the international community
alike.
On July 3, Abdullah publicly stressed, "this government
is a stable government, please believe that.... Don't panic about what
is happening." On July 6, the PM's comments turned more defense and
emotional, as he hit out at "rampant" "slandering" and Opposition
protests. "I don't see the rationale for the continued demonstrations,
or to play politics purely to create instability that could jeopardize
the people's safety and it is also aimed at toppling the government
elected by the people," Abdullah told reporters.
UMNO in Election Mode
8.
(SBU) Meanwhile, PM Abdullah's dominant UMNO party officially begins
its election cycle in 10 days time, with the first phase, party branch
elections, scheduled July 17-August 24. Most senior UMNO leaders are
devoting increasing time, particularly their weekends, to contact work
with their respective party branches and divisions.
While
elections for the presidency, deputy presidency and other national
leadership positions do not take place until December, successful
candidates must lay the ground work now to ensure their nominations
later in the process. For example, internet journalists reported on
July 7 that all 13 UMNO division leaders in Abdullah's home state of
Penang had already decided to nominate Abdullah for reelection as party
president, a move supposedly intended to forestall a push by Najib's
supporters.
Down from the Boiling Point, for Now
9.
(C) Polchief met on July 7 with Sivarasa Rasiah, vice president in
Anwar's Peoples Justice Party (PKR) and one of Anwar's lawyers.
Sivarasa said last week's political scene was volatile and "boiling,"
but the situation now had calmed down to a "simmer."
He
downplayed the immediate risk of the GOM employing emergency measures,
such as ISA detention for Anwar and other opposition leaders, in large
part because he believed PM Abdullah was not supportive of such measures
at this stage. Even though the police could arrest and hold Anwar for a
period of 60 days, Abdullah would need to be on board with the
decision.
Second, Sivarasa argued that use of ISA against
Anwar also entailed a willingness to declare a state of emergency to
contain and tamp down street protests that would erupt, a step that
again Abdullah, but also the King and fellow traditional rulers and
perhaps the security forces were not backing at this time.
10.
(C) Sivarasa said Anwar would continue holding rallies, particularly in
Opposition-held states, but would be careful to minimize the risk of
these getting out of hand and creating a pretext for harsh government
action.
Sivarasa acknowledged that in the July 6 rally Anwar
had not mentioned his now famous September 16 deadline for bringing down
the BN government, and Sivarasa appeared to imply that this date did
not reflect a particular plan, at least not one that he was privy to.
Sivarasa downplayed the possibility of Anwar contesting in a by-election in the near future.
11.
(C) The PKR VP and lawyer thought that the police investigation into
the sodomy allegations against Anwar had failed to turn up enough
information for prosecutors to justify an actual indictment, though the
police would never speak up to clear Anwar's name and the allegations,
or an open investigation, would linger.
Sivarasa stated that
private investigator Balasubramaniam had confided in him, along with a
number of others, some two months ago regarding information linking
Najib to the Altantuya murder case.
Anwar would bring forward these witnesses to Balasubramaniam's remarks when needed.
Comment
12.
(C) Last week's palatable political tension, stoked by Anwar's
offensive in face of the sodomy investigation and GOM counterattacks,
has receded somewhat as of today. The under-attended Opposition rally
of July 6, considered by itself, failed to impress or convey a sense of
popular momentum.
BN leaders, Najib in particular, have been
quick to conclude that the rally's failure to attract a packed crowd
reflects a lack of support for Anwar. Police warnings and reference to
bringing in the military to ensure order no doubt dampened enthusiasm
among Opposition supporters. The political status quo threatens Anwar
and plays into Najib's hands, however, suggesting that the Opposition
leader will come out with fresh challenges to the BN government.
13.
(C) Najib and UMNO may have suffered longer term blows to their public
credibility in the exchange of allegations with Anwar. Detailed
revelations about Najib, even retracted the next day, will tend confirm
the widespread public belief that the DPM is linked to the Altantuya
murder.
The allegations against Anwar, however, appear as a
repeat of the politically-motivated charges of 1998, even to those who
put some stock in the reports. For Najib this comes at the inopportune
time with the start of the UMNO election cycle, and will dampen the
possibility his camp can generate enough grassroots backing for a Najib
bid to replace Abdullah as party leader come December.
KEITH
GEORGE
TOWN: Apart from seeking compensation, Hindraf Makkal Sakti…
“It’s
better late than sorry. After you dish out the contracts, how are you
going to roll back?” Teraju chief executive Husni Salleh (picture) told The Malaysian Insider.
…
