Showing posts with label Anwar Ibrahim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anwar Ibrahim. Show all posts

01 June 2011

Qazaf: Jawapan kepada Anwar dan penyokongnya

Dalam episod Anwar lawan Saiful Bukhari, hukum Qazaf sering cuba digunakan untuk membenteng Anwar daripada mempertahankan diri dan menjawab dakwaan Saiful. Sedangkan, adalah sangat jelas bahawa fakta kes menunjukkan bahawa ini bukanlah kes tuduhan zina atau liwat biasa tetapi lebih menyerupai kes rogol atau yang lebih tepat sumbang mahram atau gangguan seksual antara majikan dan pekerja. Perbezaan utama antara kedua-dua kategori ini adalah wujudnya unsur paksaan sama ada secara fizikal atau secara tidak langsung di sebalik perlakuan yang terbabit. Saiful membuat aduan kerana mendakwa tidak rela dan tidak mahu lagi diperlakukan sebegitu.
oleh Zulkifli Noordin di Agenda Daily



Sudah lebih satu dekad, iaitu sejak tahun 1998, Anwar Ibrahim, dengan pelbagai episod kontroversial yang melibatkan dirinya, telah menjadi tokoh yang paling mempengaruhi situasi politik tanah air.

Oleh kerana pada ketika bermulanya Saga Anwar, dengan pemecatannya pada September 1998, beliau merupakan seorang tokoh besar dalam negara maka pelbagai episod yang melibatkan beliau begitu menarik minat dan menangkap imaginasi masyarakat.

Boleh dikatakan beliau adalah tokoh yang paling disanjungi oleh sebahagian daripada kita dan paling dibenci pula oleh sebahagian yang lain. Malah, sanjungan atau kebencian terhadap pelbagai tokoh, pertubuhan dan institusi yang lain dalam negara ini turut banyak dipengaruhi oleh persepsi kita terhadap peranan mereka dalam saga Anwar ini.

Akhirnya saga yang cukup panjang dan dramatik ini nampaknya makin menghampiri babak penutupnya. Terutamanya dengan kemunculan dua episod terakhir yang sangat besar kesannya iaitu, episod kes tuduhan liwat Mohd. Saiful Bukhari Azlan serta episod video seks yang didedahkan Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah.

Jikalau terbukti Anwar benar-benar bersalah dalam kedua-dua episod ini atau salah satu daripadanya maka sudah pasti Anwar sudah tiada kredibiliti lagi untuk memimpin, hatta keluarganya sendiri sekalipun.

Kita katakan ini kerana, jika Anwar terbukti bersalah dalam dua episod terbaru ini, maka berkemungkinan besar bahawa semua atau sekurang-kurangnya sebahagian besar dakwaan-dakwaan terhadap Anwar selama ini, sama ada isu moral mahupun bukan moral, juga adalah benar.

Jika dihimbau kembali segala dakwaan dan ‘dalil’ yang timbul sebelum-sebelum ini, hakikatnya ia menampilkan Anwar sebagai individu yang cukup bermasalah dan berpenyakit. Tidak patut lagi mana-mana pihak mempunyai prinsip menyokong Anwar kecuali mereka yang terdesak dan atau mempunyai agenda sampingan lalu mahu mempergunakan beliau untuk mencapai matlamat lain.

Sebaliknya, jika terbukti bahawa Anwar bersih dan tidak bersalah, maka memang wajarlah beliau mendapat simpati kita semua dan memang sangat zalimlah mereka yang mereka-reka tuduhan palsu terhadap beliau. Kredibiliti moral mereka ini juga akan runtuh daripada melayakkan untuk diangkat atau kekal sebagai pemimpin.

Jadi hakikat sebenar dalam dua episod terakhir Anwar Ibrahim ini sangat kritikal dan besar implikasinya. Soalnya, siapakah dan neraca manakah yang paling tepat untuk membuktikan dan menentukan apa yang sebenarnya berlaku.

Sebagai seorang Muslim yang beriman dengan kemampuan Islam untuk merungkaikan segala persoalan dan sebagai seorang yang punya sedikit latar belakang agama, saya yakin ajaran Islamlah satu-satunya formula penentu yang paling adil kepada kemelut ini.

Cuma dalam saga Anwar, soal formula Islam dan neraca syariat sering turut menjadi kelabu dan keliru. Ini adalah kerana kes ini melibatkan Anwar. Tokoh yang menampilkan imej agama dan mempunyai latar belakang gerakan Islam.

Faktor ini menjadi punca kegagalan sebahagian masyarakat Islam termasuklah sebahagian ahli-ahli agama untuk bersikap objektif dan neutral apabila menanggapi kes. Apatah lagi bila faktor-faktor lain seperti kepentingan politik atau kebencian melampau terhadap UMNO/BN turut kuat mewarnai sikap mereka.

Akhirnya hujah agama, terutamanya hukum Qazaf, sering dijadikan asas untuk cuba mengelakkan Anwar daripada dibicarakan dan diadili dalam kedua-dua kes ini.

Dalam episod Anwar lawan Saiful Bukhari, hukum Qazaf sering cuba digunakan untuk membenteng Anwar daripada mempertahankan diri dan menjawab dakwaan Saiful. Sedangkan, adalah sangat jelas bahawa fakta kes menunjukkan bahawa ini bukanlah kes tuduhan zina atau liwat biasa tetapi lebih menyerupai kes rogol atau yang lebih tepat sumbang mahram atau gangguan seksual antara majikan dan pekerja.

Perbezaan utama antara kedua-dua kategori ini adalah wujudnya unsur paksaan sama ada secara fizikal atau secara tidak langsung di sebalik perlakuan yang terbabit. Saiful membuat aduan kerana mendakwa tidak rela dan tidak mahu lagi diperlakukan sebegitu.

Beliau juga mendakwa kejadian yang telah berlaku sebelumnya bukanlah dengan sepenuh kerelaan beliau walaupun akhirnya pendakwa memilih untuk mendakwa Anwar di bawah seksyen yang tidak melibatkan paksaan, mungkin untuk memudahkan pendakwaan dan pensabitan kesalahan.

Dalam situasi sebegini, hukum syarak menuntut agar kes Saiful didengari dan diadili dan bukannya ditolak mentah-mentah kerana kegagalan beliau mendatangkan empat orang saksi yang melihat sendiri kejadian tersebut. Memang dalam kes rogol, sumbang mahram ataupun gangguan seks tempat kerja, hampir mustahil untuk si mangsa mendatangkan empat saksi lelaki yang adil.

Oleh itu, syarak menetapkan bahawa beban bukti dalam kes rogol atau sumbang mahram adalah berbeza. Segala bentuk bukti yang boleh diterima oleh syarak selain daripada saksi mata boleh diterima pakai dalam kes ini termasuklah DNA, rakaman CCTV dan seumpamanya.

Hakikatnya kesalahan yang hendak dibuktikan dalam kes Saiful lawan Anwar adalah bukannya hudud zina atau liwat tetapi liwat yang berbentuk rogol, sumbang mahram ataupun gangguan seksual tempat kerja.

Saya yakin mana-mana tokoh ulama sekalipun, termasuklah Syeikh Yusuf al-Qaradhawi atau Syeikh Wahbah al-Zuhaili, akan memberi pandangan yang sama jika fakta kes yang sebenar dijelaskan dengan tepat kepada mereka.

Selain daripada unsur paksaan, Qazaf juga melibatkan tuduhan daripada pihak ketiga. Kes Saiful adalah melibatkan pihak yang mendakwa menjadi mangsa dan bukannya pihak ketiga. Jelas sekali perbezaan fakta kes berbanding dengan kes Qazaf iaitu tuduhan zina daripada pihak ketiga tanpa asas dan bukti seperti dalam kes asalnya melibatkan Sayyidatina ‘Aishah ra. Maka tidak salahlah jika dikatakan bahawa sikap berkeras membenteng Anwar atas nama Qazaf adalah suatu kedegilan dalam kekeliruan terhadap hukum syarak.

Dalam episod terbaru melibatkan video seks yang dikatakan melibatkan Anwar, adalah tidak benar jika pihak yang mendedahkan perkara tersebut hendak dipersalahkan dari segi hukum syarak. Kalau nak dikatakan sebagai salah kerana mendedahkan aib sesama Islam, kita semua maklum bahawa larangan membuka aib dalam Islam ada beberapa pengecualiannya.

Kita dibolehkan mendedahkan aib demi memberi amaran tentang kejahatan yang boleh menimpa orang lain dan dalam kes menilai kesesuaian peribadi seseorang untuk diangkat sebagai pemimpin.

Jika hendak dikatakan Qazaf pula, adakah Eskay Shazril seorang penuduh yang datang dengan tangan kosong? Jelasnya beliau datang sebagai pihak yang mendakwa sebagai pihak yang turut terlibat, malah turut ada dalam rakaman video tersebut. Beliau juga datang dengan membawa rakaman video tersebut serta bukti-bukti sokongan yang lain seperti jam Omega yang kuat diperkatakan itu.

Bolehkah kita terus menghukumnya sebagai pelaku Qazaf? Bukankah Qazaf juga sebahagian dari kesalahan Hudud? Kita maklum bahawa Nabi Muhammad SAW dalam satu hadis mengarahkan kita untuk mengelakkan pensabitan Hudud jika terdapat apa-apa syubhah atau kesamaran?

Tidak cukupkah apa yang dibawa oleh Eskay untuk menimbulkan syubhah atas dakwaan bahawa beliau membuat tuduhan zina yang palsu atau tanpa asas terhadap Anwar? Kita juga sangat faham bahawa bukti video tidak mencukupi untuk mensabit kesalahan Hudud Zina, tetapi ia tetap boleh diterima oleh syarak untuk membuktikan kesalahan takzir atau membuktikan kesahihan sesuatu fakta.

Dalam kes Anwar, kita bukannya hendak menghukum beliau dengan Hudud Zina tetapi yang terpenting adalah hendak memastikan adakah beliau orang yang terakam dalam video tersebut, yang akan menentukan tahap keperibadian beliau.

Jika diteliti perspektif di atas dengan insaf, maka jelaslah bahawa Anwar tidak boleh terus-terusan mempergunakan Islam dan hukum Qazaf untuk mengelakkan daripada menghadapi proses kehakiman dalam kedua-dua episod ini.

Beliau dan penyokongnya perlu akur kepada prinsip hukum Islam bahawa beliau perlu membersihkan dirinya daripada dakwaan bahawa beliau telah meliwat Saiful Bukhari serta dakwaan bahawa beliau adalah pelaku dalam video seks terbabit.

Sementara proses ini berlangsung dan belum selesai, kaedah yang terbaik dan amalan yang lebih terhormat ialah dengan meminta Anwar bercuti daripada semua tugas rasminya sehinggalah namanya dibersihkan (jika beliau benar-benar bersih). Bukannya dengan beliau ataupun para penyokongnya yang taksub terus-menerus cuba berselindung di sebalik hukum Qazaf atau atas nama agama.

24 May 2011

Is it possible for a 60-year old to sodomise a 20-year old? - Angeline Tay

A person of authority using his position or influence to gain sexual gratification from a person answerable or beholden to him is not a phenomenon either unknown or rare. It is in fact very common. Think of those sexual abuse cases involving Catholic priests and altar or choir boys which till now are plaguing the Catholic Church, those cases in the US military where superior officers sexually harass and exploit junior female personnel, instances in academia where instructors use their position to gain sexual advantage over students.
by Angeline Tay via e-mail



Many a time in the course of the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy II trial, the question was raised as to how a strong and reluctant twenty-something-year old man could be sodomised by a sixty-plus-year old person. This question presupposes that an element of physical force was involved to bring the victim to submission. That supposition may be entirely erroneous.

A person of authority using his position or influence to gain sexual gratification from a person answerable or beholden to him is not a phenomenon either unknown or rare. It is in fact very common. Think of those sexual abuse cases involving Catholic priests and altar or choir boys which till now are plaguing the Catholic Church, those cases in the US military where superior officers sexually harass and exploit junior female personnel, instances in academia where instructors use their position to gain sexual advantage over students.

In many cases, because of their shame, confusion and emotional trauma, the victims took a great deal of time, sometimes years, to speak out on the victimisation committed against them. Very often, there was no physical violence threatened or inflicted and the victims appear to have physically consented to the sexual relations. In actual fact, their mental confusion and reluctance to question or resist the 'requests' or 'suggestions' by a person they look up to made them vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Or the exploiter is someone the victim is dependent on for job security or career advancement. The Anwar/Saiful sodomy case can easily fit into this pattern.

Some people consider it inconceivable or impossible for Anwar to have forced Saiful to submit to be sodomised. This is a very blinkered view, almost willfully ignorant of what had happened in other parts of the world. The answer to the question posed many times by observers as to how it was possible that a 60-year old man can sexually exploit a physically strong 20-something year-old man is that the former by using his charisma, position and influence can persuade or coerce the latter to do things against the latter's better judgement with no physical violence or threats necessary. So the act can appear to be physically consensual but in the mind of the victim during or after the act, it is something done against his or her will and is forced on him or her.

Far from it for me to say at this point that was what actually transpired in the Anwar/Saiful sodomy case. That's for the trial to decide. What I'm saying is that it's time people stop playing stupid and start to accept that it is not an impossibility for sexual exploitation to have taken place with no actual physical resistance on the part of the victim. Things get very complicated once the victim 'submits' to the exploitation as the element of consent arguably becomes apparent. It is for this reason that sexual harassment laws have been formulated to deter persons holding positions of authority and power in organisations from even attempting to take sexual advantage of their underlings.



ANGELINE TAY MEI LIN
Cheras, Kuala Lumpur

23 May 2011

PAS dan Video Seks Anwar Ibrahim - Nik Adha

Isu video seks Anwar Ibrahim bukanlah satu musibah tetapi satu rahmat kepada PAS. Inilah peluang keemasan untuk PAS membuktikan ia benar-benar sebuah "hizbullah'. PAS sebenarnya kini berada dalam keadaan "menang-menang".
oleh Nik Adha Nik Kamil melalui e-mel



Perjuangan PAS sebagai sebuah "hizbullah" adalah berlandaskan hukum-hukum Allah swt. Sayugia, PAS menentang segala bentuk fitnah dan zina.

Pendedahan video seks Anwar Ibrahim boleh ditakrifkan sebagai fitnah zina. Jika video itu palsu, sebuah fitnah telah direkacipta untuk menganiayai Anwar Ibrahim. Jika video itu benar, Anwar Ibrahim telah melakukan zina. Hitam atau putih, tiada ruang untuk kelabu.

Isu video seks ini meletakkan PAS di persimpangan jalan. Isu ini sudah semestinya menguji keikhlasan PAS sebagai sebuah parti yang memperjuangkan syariat Islam. Setakat ini pendirian pucuk pimpinan PAS masih kabur dan samar mengenai isu ini. Pada waktu sama tiada juga tindakan pro-aktif oleh pemimpin-pemimpin PAS untuk menentukan kesahihan video tersebut.

PAS sepatutnya atas inisiatif sendiri merujuk kepada pakar-pakar video untuk menentukan kesahihan video tersebut yang kini telah tersebar meluas. Begitu juga teknologi canggih seperti pengecaman-muka perlu digunakan untuk mengenalpasti pelaku dalam video itu.

Segala usaha-usaha ini bebas dari apa-apa yang dilakukan oleh pihak-pihak lain. Ianya semata-mata untuk membantu pemimpin-pemimpin PAS membuat keputusan yang tepat dan bijak. Sambil memohon kepada Allah swt untuk memberi petunjuk, segala kepakaran yang sedia ada perlu digunakan untuk memberi penentuan. Berserah kepada Allah swt tetapi unta masih perlu ditambat juga.

Sebaliknya, apa yang dilihat umum ialah pemimpin-pemimpin PAS mengeluarkan kenyataan yang bercanggah-canggah. Mursyidul Am yakin Anwar tidak melakukan zina. Nik Aziz membuat kenyataan tanpa menonton video tersebut. Setiausaha Agung menyeru supaya menunggu keputusan siasatan polis. Mustapha Ali pula membuat kenyataan setelah dikatakan menonton video tersebut.

Pasukan polis yang menjadi rujukan Mustapha Ali adalah pasukan polis yang dilabel oleh PAS sebagai tidak adil dan tidak bebas.

Dalam masa yang sama, pemimpin-pemimpin PAS bersikap seolah-olah isu ini tidak wujud. Calon Timbalan Presiden, Mat Sabu pada satu sidang media telah menyatakan tidak akan melayan soalan-soalan mengenai video tersebut. Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pemilihan PAS, Halim Rahman pula menyatakan bahawa muktamar PAS 2011 tidak akan membincang isu video seks. Ada pemimpin-pemimpin PAS yang sanggup menjadi burung unta yang lebih selesa menimbus kepala dalam pasir.

Sama ada mendapat restu atau tidak dari pucuk pimpinan PAS, ahli-ahli PAS dan rakyat biasa tetap akan membincang isu video seks. Implikasi isu ini amat getir bukan hanya kepada keutuhan PAS sebagai sebuah "hizbullah" tetapi rakyat Malaysia turut, khususnya orang melayu, akan berpecah belah.

Yang membuat akar umbi PAS dan penyokong-penyokong Pakatan Rakyat amat gusar, lebih dari kandungan video tersebut, ialah tindak-tanduk Anwar setelah pendedahan dibuat. Banyak persoalan yang timbul:

  • Mengapa Anwar tidak mengumumkan identiti alibi-alibi beliau?
  • Mengapa penjelasan Anwar tentang ketidakhadirannya dalam ruang "Twitter" pada masa video dirakam amat mengelirukan?
  • Mengapa tidak ditunjukkan kepada umum jam Omega, jam yang dikatakan oleh Anwar dan Wan Azizah masih disimpan oleh Wan Azizah?
  • Mengapa tidak membuat sumpah laknat?
  • Mengapa tidak membuat ujian "polygraph"?
  • Mengapa tidak merujuk kepada pakar-pakar yang profesional dan bebas tentang kesahihan video tersebut?
  • Mengapa Anwar tidak menyaman malu individu-individu yang membuat pendedahan?
  • Mengapa Anwar gagal untuk mengesahkan persahabatan beliau dengan Eskay Abdullah?

Tindak-tanduk Anwar tidak mencerminkan kewibawaan beliau sebagai seorang pemimpin yang bijak menangani sebarang krisis.

Jika sah video tersebut palsu, PAS wajib mengembelingkan segala tenaga untuk menghukum pihak pemfitnah. Dataran Merdeka akan bertukar menjadi Dataran Tahrir. Tidak cukup bumi untuk pemfitnah melarikan diri. PAS secara "default" akan menjadi pemimpin kepada sebuah gerakan massa yang memperjuangkan kebenaran dan keadilan.

Jika sah video tersebut benar, PAS wajib menyisihkan seorang penzina. PAS akan dianggap sebagai satu parti politik yang berprinsip kerana sanggup mengenepikan kepentingan politik demi menegakkan hukum Allah swt. Sekaligus membuat parti-parti politik yang mengamalkan resam "matlamat menghalalkan cara" kelihatan kerdil bagai melukut di tepi gantang.

Isu video seks Anwar Ibrahim bukanlah satu musibah tetapi satu rahmat kepada PAS. Inilah peluang keemasan untuk PAS membuktikan ia benar-benar sebuah "hizbullah'. PAS sebenarnya kini berada dalam keadaan "menang-menang".


NIK ADHA NIK KAMIL

20 May 2011

Of Naked Paunches and Disappearing Goatees - Ariff Effendy

"Sumpah Laknat" may not be the most optimum religious act according to the swirling controversy surrounding it. But it is a way that is effective among the masses to discredit the video. Anwar should do it. If his intention is sincere in saving the ummah, Allah will be with him.
by Dr. Ariff Effendy via e-mail



The debate on the authenticity of the sex video purportedly showing Dato Seri Anwar patronising a prostitute has bewildered me, to say the least. Everyone seems to be either an expert in videography or has seen Anwar naked so often as to be able to determine if indeed he has the belly of a 40-year old.

That the whistle-blowers are not exactly of impeccable reputation is a reality in public opinion. That the powers that be are capable of manipulating circumstances in a situation that will benefit them, is also a probability.

I should then just ignore the video.

To be absolutely honest though, I have not been able to. It does bother me. Not because I really care about another person's carnal activities nor am I such a righteous person sincerely wanting to offer salvation to the misguided.

It is the blatant hypocrisy that disturbs me.

None of the whistle-blowers have been convicted in a court of law, yet we are quick to dish out our judgement of their character. Perhaps they have escaped the arms of the law because of the selective prosecution wanton in our country presently. Yes, that is a probability. Damn them for upsetting our apple-cart though.

I don't have to listen to these characters' judgement of Anwar but I am curious about the case they had presented. If Hitler had said the Aryans are the superior race, I would have ignored that judgement coming from a racist supremacist. However, just because Hitler said two plus two totals four, I'm not going to dispute it just because it comes from a mad man. You see, facts can be determined independently of the carrier of the message.

So how come the authenticity of the video and the identity of its participants seem so difficult to determine? It's not rocket science. The same people who believe that the video is a fraud made using technologies not even available to the CIA, KGB and Mossad, seem reluctant to resort to proven technology readily available to identify the video's participants.

So maybe there's no legal reason to do that as none of the country's laws have been broken and a royal commission that has been mooted should focus on more critical matters.

How much of critical importance is this sex video to me? Very very critical. I am sick of the hypocrisy of our country's leaders whom we have voted into office. And I am not about to replace them with characters just as bad, or worse.

I am very alarmed that an unfair allegation has been made against Anwar and yet Anwar who wants me to trust him to be my leader has refused to sue these people for defamation. If he doesn't trust this country's courts, then let us ask if he is willing to sue in United Kingdom if those people repeat the defamatory statements in the UK? Then Malaysians like me will have the benefit of the latest technology to resolve this matter if their defence is that of justification.

Whoever wins or loses, it is the rakyat that actually win. We are with him. Is he with us?

Or if he is partial to Islamic traditions, just do the "sumpah laknat" and get it over with. Public opinion will swing to him away from those rouges. After all, he has nothing to worry about as we all are very sure that Anwar the propagator of "penyerapan nilai-nilai Islam" in governance while he was in government would be the last person to patronise a prostitute.

"Sumpah Laknat" may not be the most optimum religious act according to the swirling controversy surrounding it. But it is a way that is effective among the masses to discredit the video. Anwar should do it. If his intention is sincere in saving the ummah, Allah will be with him.

I have reduced all this fog to just simply wanting to know the truth about my aspiring leader. This is not about the character of the rogues or the appropriateness of "sumpah laknat" or the fairness of our courts.

It is about whether person in the video is Anwar and whether there was a gun to his head while he was committing the act. The rest is just anybody's spin to divert the issue.

It is the hypocrisy that I can't stand. From whosoever.



DR ARIFF EFFENDY

19 May 2011

The Sacred and the Profane in Malaysian Politics - Syed Mohd Salim

Why enlist foreign ulamas who are ignorant of Malaysian politics to proclaim his innocence? Why not hire foreign video experts who are professional and impartial to prove his innocence? Why not sue the individuals responsible for the video for defamation if he was innocent of the act portrayed in it?
by Syed Mohd Salim via e-mail



Humans have always been beset by the existentialist questions: Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here?

Religions exist to provide the answers and to comfort the beleaguered. The need for religion is so real that the propensity for religion is programmed in the human genes. Religion is the basis for altruism, the critical factor in the evolution of humans as social animals. Religion is sacred.

Procreation is the sole mechanism for the evolution of the species. Since the advent of sexual reproduction as a means of procreation, organisms have striven to be the alpha male or the alpha female. This is the best strategy to ensure maximum opportunities for the replication of one's genes. Procreation is a natural phenomenon and it is values-free. It is the drive to be the alpha male or female, "red in tooth and claw", that is profane.

The line between the sacred and the profane is blurred in Malaysian politics today. Religion is readily abused in the quest to be the alpha-male, alpha-group, alpha-race. Religious issues are manipulated to gain or maintain power.

There are no qualms in oppressing one religion to get the support of the adherents of another. The various religions are kept apart and made to be wary of each other, even to the point of mounting "crusades" against another. The classic case of divide-and-rule.

Even more insidious than religion being used as a tool to maintain power but integral to that phenomenon is the role of religious charlatans in politics. These are politicians who use religious platforms to get support. In the Malaysian context, unscrupulous politicians use Islam to gain support from Muslims who form the majority population in the country.

The epitome of such politicians is Anwar Ibrahim. He rose to prominence through ABIM, an Islamic youth movement. He later joined UMNO and in a matter of eleven years became deputy president of the party, a sure-fire path to be the prime minister. While in the government, he engineered a radical Islamisation policy to politically outflank PAS. Since his ouster from the government in 1998, he maintains a group of Islamists as core supporters.

Anwar always portrays the image of a pious Muslim. He quotes Quranic verses in his speeches and draws analogies from the Islamic Traditions to sell his agenda. He gained recognition from the international community by grandstanding on Islamic issues.

Anwar Ibrahim with Yusuf Qaradawi
The Islamic cloak worn by Anwar is getting thread-bare. The video showing Anwar having sex with a prostitute has devastatingly exposed the real Anwar. Crying political conspiracy, Anwar refuses to take the initiative to prove that the video is a fake or that the perpetrator is not him. He could have used the latest face-recognition technology to prove his innocence, had he so wanted, but instead, he goes on a dog-and-pony show around the country crying political conspiracy.

The roadshows are basically religious gatherings with solat hajat (special prayers), tazkirah (sermons) and ceramahs (speeches) laced with quotes from the Quran and hadiths (sayings of the Prophet) where Anwar proclaims his innocence while guised in the Islamic cloak. He recruits ulamas (religious scholars), local and foreign, to prop up his Islamic stature.

Why enlist foreign ulamas who are ignorant of Malaysian politics to proclaim his innocence? Why not hire foreign video experts who are professional and impartial to prove his innocence? Why not sue the individuals responsible for the video for defamation if he was innocent of the act portrayed in it?

It is time Malaysians differentiate the sacred from the profane in Malaysian politics, lest "religion becomes the refuge of the scoundrel".



SYED MOHD SALIM SYED MOHD BAKAR

18 May 2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Anwar Ibrahim, and Paul Wolfowitz: The Woman Troubles of Men Who Oversee Money

Like three peas in a pod, Strauss Kahn, Anwar Ibrahim and Paul Wolfowitz, all seem to have issues that can cost them their political future, and all their problems relate to women (or in the case of Anwar, allegations of adultery with women and also men). Indeed, in a further parallel to Strauss-Kahn’s current predicament, it is worth noting that Anwar is not so much on trial for sodomy, as for sexual assault of an aide. The only difference is that Wolfowitz’s scandal was not of alleged sexual assault, but merely of a girlfriend-triggered conflict of interest.
by Christopher Badeaux at New Ledger



There’s something about being an “over-60″ money guy with little oversight.

The news this weekend is that International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn had apparently been caught with his pants down:

Prosecutors have charged International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York City, police said.

Strauss-Kahn, a key player in the world’s response to the 2007-09 financial meltdown and in Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, was removed from an Air France plane 10 minutes before it was to take off for Paris from John F Kennedy International Airport, New York police spokesman Paul Browne said.

A lawyer representing Strauss-Kahn, Benjamin Brafman, told Reuters in an email that the IMF chief “will plead not guilty.” Mr Brafman made no further comment.

A 32-year-old maid filed a sexual assault complaint after fleeing the hotel suite at the Sofitel in Times Square where the alleged incident occurred, Mr Browne said.

The Greek tragedy that is now befalling Strauss-Kahn is the latest in a series of similar cases of sex-related scandal that over the past few years have also involved former World Bank boss Paul Wolfowitz and former Malaysian finance minister (and close friend of Wolfowitz) Anwar Ibrahim.

Like three peas in a pod, Strauss Kahn, Anwar Ibrahim and Paul Wolfowitz, all seem to have issues that can cost them their political future, and all their problems relate to women (or in the case of Anwar, allegations of adultery with women and also men). Indeed, in a further parallel to Strauss-Kahn’s current predicament, it is worth noting that Anwar is not so much on trial for sodomy, as for sexual assault of an aide. The only difference is that Wolfowitz’s scandal was not of alleged sexual assault, but merely of a girlfriend-triggered conflict of interest.

Take a look at these three and their recent histories:

Strauss-Kahn, 62, is the former French Finance Minister who widely believed to be within inches of announcing his candidacy as opposition candidate to challenge President Nicholas Sarkozy of France in the upcoming national elections. But his past indiscretion with a fellow IMF staffer in 2008 nearly cost him his job, and as of Monday he was facing sexual assault charges that very likely will end his career.

Anwar Ibrahim & Paul Wolfowitz
Anwar, 64, is the former Malaysian Finance Minister who was hoping to challenge Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia in elections that are expected some time later this year or in 2012. But his alleged past indiscretion with a male staffer in 2008 may cost him his job as Opposition leader, a widely publicized video allegedly showing him with a woman not his wife is causing controversy at home, and as of Monday a court in Kuala Lumpur ruled that his own sex-related trial will proceed (has just been ordered to put on a defense to what seems like an increasingly likely sodomy conviction), and this could end his career.

Wolfowitz, 68, is the former Deputy Secretary of Defense and a close friend of Anwar whose career in public service essentially ended in 2007 when he was forced to resign as President of the World Bank over the lavish pay rise he arranged for his girlfriend, that in turn triggered the worst crisis in the institution’s history.

A 2010 report purports, based on documents released pursuant to FOIA requests, to document how Wolfowitz’s girlfriend Shaha Riza was paid a salary higher than that of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice by a foundation set up with $20 million of U.S. taxpayers’ money. Riza’s activities in this role were in apparent violation of conflict of interest regulations at the World Bank, and raised questions about tax, visa, and national security law violations as well.

But even more egregiously, according to the whistle blower report, Riza had helped get Anwar Ibrahim, a close friend of Wolfowitz, named as chairman of the same obscure State Department-funded Foundation for the Future. Wolfowitz meanwhile has continued to defend Anwar Ibrahim against his current sexual assault and sodomy charges in Malaysia.

So call it a coincidence, or call it a pattern. But when people of public stature, entrusted with political leadership or the stewardship of an institution such as the IMF or World Bank get into sex-related trouble, it can diminish the office, the person and the institution.

In Wolfowitz’s case, he has resigned. In Anwar’s case, he is on trial. In Strauss-Kahn’s case, he will likely go on trial.

Going forward, with Wolfowitz gone, and Strauss-Kahn a symbol of the respectable international Left now facing charges of criminal sexual assault, one wonders who in the international community will continue a defense of Anwar by inertia. After nearly sixty days of proceedings, Anwar has been ordered to present his defense by a court of law. The old defenses — stunted appeals to Anwar’s first sodomy trial, made by Wolfowitz no less — will ring increasingly hollow when the very men who once cried out that Anwar’s exceedingly-process-driven trial is a sham are themselves not so credible. The comparison has already become obvious in the French, German, and Spanish press.

For Anwar and Strauss-Kahn, both innocent until proven guilty but both accused of sexual peccadilloes for the second time, the ride through the criminal process is only beginning. For an international community too lazy to pay attention to the merits of Anwar’s alleged crimes, Strauss-Kahn’s troubles must serve as a wake-up call, and a reminder that even favored sons can stray.

WikiLeaks and the Altantuya Murder

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia. Anwar also called attention to Najib's connection to the Altantuya case.
by Asia Sentinel Correspondent



The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur closely followed the trial of the accused killers of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and frequently discussed whether current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was involved in the killing, according to diplomatic cables supplied to Asia Sentinel by the WikiLeaks website.

The diplomats, like much of the public, also speculated that the trial was being deliberately delayed and feared what one cable calls "prosecutorial misconduct" that was being politically manipulated. The embassy officials based their concerns on sources within the prosecution, government and the political opposition.

The cables also draw attention to an intriguing allegation that then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may have attempted to use the proceedings to implicate Najib, a claim that was quickly hushed up in the Malaysian press.

Altantuya was murdered in October 2006 by two of Najib's bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35. who stood trial and were pronounced guilty in April 2009. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib's best friends and Altantuya's lover, was accused of participating in the murder but was freed without having to put on a defense.

The murder has been tied closely to the US$1 billion acquisition of French submarines by the Malaysian ministry of defense, which Najib headed as defense minister during the acquisitions. Altantuya reportedly acted as a translator on the transaction, which netted Razak Baginda's company a €114 million "commission" on the purchase. Reportedly she had been offered US$500,000 for her part in translating. After she was jilted, she vainly demanded payment. A letter she had written was made public after her death saying she regretted attempting to "blackmail" Razak Baginda.

French lawyers are investigating whether some of the €114 million was kicked back to French or Malaysian politicians. Despite the scandal, the US government has not publicly backed away from Najib. In April 2010, Najib visited the White House and was praised by President Barack Obama for the parliament's passage of an act allowing Malaysian authorities to take action against individuals and entities engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia. Anwar also called attention to Najib's connection to the Altantuya case.

A Jan. 24, 2007 cable, marked "secret," wrote that "Perceived irregularities on the part of prosecutors and the court, and the alleged destruction of some evidence, suggested to many that the case was subject to strong political pressure intended to protect Najib."

In a Feb. 1, 2008 cable, the embassy's Political Section Chief, Mark D. Clark, wrote that a deputy prosecutor had told him "there was almost no chance of winning guilty verdicts in the on-going trial of defendants Razak Baginda, a close advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, and two police officers. She described the trial as interminably long." (That, of course, turned out to be wrong. Sirul and Azilah were ultimately convicted and have appealed their sentence)

Clark called the trial "a prosecutorial embarrassment from its inception, leading many to speculate that the ineptitude was by design. On the eve of the trial,Malaysia's Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail dropped his lead prosecutors and replaced them with less experienced attorneys. Similarly, a lead counsel for one of the defendants abruptly resigned before the trial 'because of (political) attempts to interfere with a defense he had proposed, in particular to protect an unnamed third party.'"

The protracted nature of the case, Clark continued, led "at least one regional newspaper to speculate that 'the case is being deliberately delayed to drive it from public view. Malaysia's daily newspapers rarely mention the case's latest developments, and it is unprecedented in Malaysian judicial history that a murder trial could drag on for seven months and still not give the defense an opportunity to present its case. Such an environment has led many to conclude that the case was too politically sensitive to yield a verdict before the anticipated general elections."

A January 2007 cable called attention to Razak Baginda's affidavit confirming that he sought the help of Musa Safri, later identified by reporters as Najib's aide-de-camp, in ridding him of the jilted woman, and in other cables pointed out that Musa had never been called for questioning.

In another cable, dated May 16, 2007, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, a deputy home affairs minister in former Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi's cabinet told US Embassy officials that he was "certain that government prosecutors would limit their trial activities to the murder itself and the three defendants; prosecutors would not follow up on allegations of related corruption or other suspects."

In a Jan. 27, 2007 cable, marked "Secret," embassy officials wrote that "In December we heard from one of (Anwar's) lawyers that Razak Baginda's wife was in contact with Anwar and Wan Azizah, suggesting one possible source for Anwar's information."

Razak Baginda's wife, during one of his first appearances in court, screamed that her husband "doesn't want to be prime minister." That was taken by observers as a reference to the fact that Najib reportedly had been having an affair with Altantuya but passed her on to Razak Baginda because it would be unseemly to have a mistress when he succeeded Abdullah Badawi as premier. Najib has offered to swear on the Koran that he had never met the woman.

However, in July 2008, P Balasubramaniam, a former policeman and private detective who had been hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya, filed a sworn statement saying he had been told by the accused man that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but had an affair with her and introduced her to him, passing her on because he did not want the onus of having a mistress in the event that he would become prime minister.

In a telephone interview on May 9, Anwar, however, told Asia Sentinel that Razak Baginda's wife was not the source of his knowledge of Najib's connection and that instead he had been told of the connection by Setev Shaariibuu, Altantuya's father, who said he had wished to present evidence of Najib's involvement, but was not allowed to do so. Multiple attempts to contact Setev by Asia Sentinel have been unsuccessful.

Almost immediately after he made the statement, Balasubramaniam was picked up and driven to a police station, where he was forced to withdraw the statement and write a new one saying Razak Baginda had told him nothing of the sort. Balasubramaniam fled Malaysia for India. He later said Najib's brother, Nizam, and wife, Rosmah Mansor, had met with him and that he was offered RM5 million (US$1.48 million) to forget his statement connecting Najib to Altantuya. Balasubramaniam displayed a flock of checks drawn on the account of an associate of Najib's wife. The former private detective has made a a series of statements from outside the country about Najib's involvement.

A February 2008 cable from Political Section Chief Clark gives a hint that Abdullah Badawi himself may have been trying to get rid of Najib by forcing Razak Baginda to implicate him in the murder.

"In the latest turn of the ongoing Altantuya murder trial (reftels), accused political insider Abdul Razak Baginda, who has remained calm and composed through most of the proceedings, unleashed an emotional tirade shortly after the February 20 noon recess on the trial's 90th day," Clark wrote. "Referring to the Prime Minister by his nick-name 'Pak Lah,' Razak reportedly exclaimed: 'You can die, Pak Lah! (in Malaysian - Matilah kau, Pak Lah!) I'm innocent!' according to unpublished journalist accounts.

"Local newspapers and the government news service Bernama reported the fact of the outburst, but did not print Razak's statements. The short-lived exception was the English language newspaper The Sun, which included the quotations from Razak in its early morning February 21 edition. Sources at newspaper confirmed to us in confidence that the Ministry of Internal Security compelled The Sun to withdraw and recall thousands of copies of their first run paper in which the original quote was included. Prime Minister Abdullah serves concurrently as Minister of Internal Security."

During the trial, Clark wrote, Razak Baginda, "appeared uneasy throughout the morning session of court on February 20. Razak's father, Abdullah Malim Baginda had whispered something to him shortly before the trial had begun for the morning and apparently upset the accused. Razak had remained quiet throughout the morning hearings, but just after the noon recess was called and as he was leaving the courtroom he kicked and banged the door and yelled "You can die, Pak Lah! Die, Pak Lah! I am innocent. I am innocent." He was later seen crying before his lawyer while his mother attempted to comfort him."

"Speculation is rife in Malaysia's on-line community concerning what it was that set off Razak Baginda outburst, including conspiracy theories alleging the Prime Minister's office had urged Razak to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak …in return for sparing Razak a guilty verdict and its mandatory death sentence," officials wrote.

The cable goes on to write, "Regardless, the Internal Security Ministry would want to limit any possibly inflammatory reference to the Prime Minister at the trial, and particularly at this juncture due to the proximity of Malaysia's general election to be held on March 8. Any connection between the Prime Minister and the murder trial would be scandalous. The GOM (government of Malaysia) reportedly has worked hard to 'drive (the case) from public view' … and is not about to allow the case to influence the coming elections."

Surat Terbuka Kepada Dr. Wan Azizah - Wan Nasuha

Ketika ummah bercakaran maka langkah pro-aktif dituntut untuk menghentikan segala kekusutan ummah. Hakikatnya, hanya Dr Wan Azizah sahaja di muka bumi ini yang berupaya untuk menyelesaikan kekusutan ini. Dr Wan Azizah perlu akur bahawa isu video ini telah menjangkaui kepentingan peribadi, keluarga dan politik. Keharmonian ummah sudah terancam dan kestabilan negara telah tergugat. Hanya Dr Wan Azizah yang mampu untuk menyelamatkan ummah daripada terus dilanda musibah ini.
oleh Wan Nasuha Wan Hassan melalui e-mel



Sebagai isteri dan ibu, saya turut bersimpati dengan derita yang melanda Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail dan keluarganya dengan isu pendedahan video seks yang didakwa menunjukkan Anwar Ibrahim melakukan perhubungan seks dengan seorang pelacur Cina. Mana-mana isteri di dunia ini akan luluh hati terluka jika benar suaminya telah berzina, dirakam aksi seks dan tersebar seluruh dunia. Disiarkan pula setiap hari dan malam di kaca televisyen.

Jika benar ini fitnah dan dusta, alangkah teraniaya beliau dan anak-anaknya sebagai seorang Muslimah. Alhamdulillah, setakat ini Dr Wan Azizah kelihatan tabah berdiri teguh di sisi suami meskipun diserang bertubi-tubi oleh pihak musuh politik. Dr Wan Azizah telah membuat kenyataan demi kenyataan bahawa lelaki di dalam video itu bukan Anwar Ibrahim. Malangnya, masih ada yang mempercayai Anwar Ibrahim adalah lelaki dalam video seperti yang didakwa.

Dakyah Utusan Malaysia, TV3 dan lain-lain media Umno/BN telah berjaya meracuni minda sebahagian besar masyarakat. Ummah telah berpecah dan berbalah kerana video ini, sehingga masjid dijadikan gelanggang pergaduhan. Hukum syariah, ayat-ayat suci Al Quran menjadi bahan mainan dengan tafsiran-tafsiran ikut selera politik dan agama Islam diperlekehkan. Keretakan di kalangan ummah memberi ruang kepada musuh untuk bertindak.

Ketika ummah bercakaran maka langkah pro-aktif dituntut untuk menghentikan segala kekusutan ummah. Hakikatnya, hanya Dr Wan Azizah sahaja di muka bumi ini yang berupaya untuk menyelesaikan kekusutan ini. Dr Wan Azizah perlu akur bahawa isu video ini telah menjangkaui kepentingan peribadi, keluarga dan politik. Keharmonian ummah sudah terancam dan kestabilan negara telah tergugat. Hanya Dr Wan Azizah yang mampu untuk menyelamatkan ummah daripada terus dilanda musibah ini.

Selama ini penafian secara lisan dari beliau telah diperlekehkan atas alasan beliau berkepentingan sebagai isteri untuk melindungi reputasi suami beliau. Tambahan pula si isteri adalah presiden parti yang berketua umumkan si suami. Mahu tak mahu, Dr Wan Azizah harus mengambil tindakan yang lebih tegas dan berani untuk menamatkan fitnah jijik ini.

Maka dengan ini, saya dengan segala rendah hatinya mencadangkan supaya Dr Wan Azizah membuat sumpah laknat atas nama Allah bahawa pelaku dalam video itu bukan suami beliau. Selepas membuat sumpah tersebut, beliau haruslah mengadakan sidang media di mana jam Omega suami beliau yang selama ini saya percaya di dalam simpanan beliau ditunjuk kepada para hadirin.

Tindakan Dr Wan Azizah yang tegas ini akan sekaligus menamatkan fitnah terhadap Anwar Ibrahim dan menyelamatkan ummah dari berpecah. Tiada insan rasional dapat menolak kesahihan sumpah laknat yang dibuat oleh Dr Wan Azizah, malah itu lebih efektif dari apa-apa sumpah laknat yang dibuat oleh Anwar Ibrahim sendiri. Apatah lagi diperkukuhkan dengan adanya jam Omega yang menafikan sama sekali bahawa Anwar telah berada di tempat di mana video hubungan seks haram telah dirakam.

Saya yakin Dr Wan Azizah sedar dan peka bahawa kewajipan beliau kepada Allah SWT untuk menegakkan kebenaran dan keadilan mengatasi segala pertimbangan duniawi. Sesungguhnya penyelesaian kepada isu yang kian memecahbelahkan ummah ini terletak di tangan beliau. Saya amat berharap dan berdoa beliau menyambut baik cadangan ini dan seterusnya mengambil tindakan yang dicadangkan, Insya-Allah.

Sekian, Wasallam.



WAN NASUHA BINTI WAN HASSAN

Sex, lies and the reckless choices of the powerful

One pattern psychologists detect in top politicians is a readiness to engage in an extreme amount of risk-taking, said Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia. In the Strauss-Kahn case, if true, Farley said a crime would be "exceptionally risky."

"Risk-taking is one of the essential ingredients in highly successful or leading public figures and politicians," said Farley. "Strauss-Kahn (case) fits that bill."
by Caren Bohan and Tabassum Zakaria at Reuters via Yahoo! News



Sex and power are no strangers. History is littered with tales of the powerful and privileged felled by sex scandals.

But make no mistake. If IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is found guilty as charged of attempting to rape a hotel maid in New York City, he would be in a league virtually of his own.

Few have been accused of a violent crime like Strauss-Kahn. The world financier and French presidential hopeful was charged on Sunday with criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape in New York City after a hotel maid said she was assaulted.

"Politics and power and sexual harassment certainly have a long history," said Michele Swers, associate professor of government at Georgetown University. "This being an attempted criminal rape is, I think, of an order of a different magnitude."

There is no shortage of powerful leaders who fell from grace for affairs, prostitutes and groping. Sexual indiscretions have weakened governments and buried political careers on both sides of the Atlantic, today and in ages past.

Among the most famous is the Profumo scandal in 1963 in which a British war secretary was forced to resign because he had an affair with a prostitute linked to a Russian spy.

The Strauss-Kahn case raises some of the same questions that surface in any scandal where politics and sex intersect. Did the accused abuse power to engage in high-risk behavior, and did power make him feel invincible, above the law?

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, ex-New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and 2012 presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich are just a few of the powerful who have faced that kind of scrutiny, although none had to answer to charges of violent crime.

"Power is an aphrodisiac, as is well known, and we know as well that power in one sense is often presumed to be power in another sense," said James Walston, professor of Italian politics at the American University of Rome.

"So a person who is head of the IMF might think he can get away with anything. Certainly Berlusconi appears to think that way."

Berlusconi, 74, a towering figure of Italy's center right, is facing four concurrent trials for corruption, tax fraud and, most sensationally, sex with an underage prostitute and then using his office to cover it up. The sex charge followed years of rumors of his sexual misbehavior.

Strauss-Kahn is no stranger to these questions. In 2008, he was investigated by the IMF over possible abuse of power over a brief affair with an economist at the Fund who was his subordinate. The affair was consensual and he was cleared, but he apologized publicly for "a serious error of judgment.

France, like Italy, traditionally is quite tolerant of extra-marital affairs, unlike the United States. The out-of-wedlock daughter of former President Francois Mitterand attended his funeral. This time though, French politicians and the public were shocked. The charges "struck like a thunderbolt," in the words of the leader of the Socialist Party to which Strauss-Kahn belonged.

Strauss-Kahn, 62, is due to appear in court later on Sunday and his wife, a successful French media personality, has said she has "no doubt his innocence will be re-established."

'EGOTISM, NARCISSISM'

It is rare for a politician to go to jail for a sex crime. Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was sentenced in March to seven years in prison for rape when he was a Cabinet minister in the late 1990s. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it showed "no person is above the law."

One pattern psychologists detect in top politicians is a readiness to engage in an extreme amount of risk-taking, said Frank Farley, a psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia. In the Strauss-Kahn case, if true, Farley said a crime would be "exceptionally risky."

"Risk-taking is one of the essential ingredients in highly successful or leading public figures and politicians," said Farley. "Strauss-Kahn (case) fits that bill."

Clinton also fits the profile. He came from modest means, faced many ups and downs in his political path to the presidency, only to risk all when he had an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in the White House.

Adulation awarded to high-fliers can also contribute.

"You have people who are committed supporters around you and they don't want to see anything bad happen to you in terms of career, so there will always be people who are willing to then cover it up," said Swers.

John Edwards, a U.S. Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008, squandered his promising career by having an affair with a woman on his campaign, while his wife battled cancer. Elizabeth Edwards has since died.

Edwards blamed his meteoric rise in presidential politics and the fawning that came with it.

All that "fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want. You're invincible. And there will be no consequences," Edwards told ABC News in 2008. He later admitted he had fathered the woman's child.

While a sense of strength and fearlessness and a near disregard of consequences can make for great, powerful leaders, the problems come when they do not acknowledge they are human, said Robert Weiss, founder and director of the Sexual Recovery Institute, which specializes in sexual addiction.

"If their narcissism or egotism isn't matched by a healthy dose of humility of what it means to be human ... and they run on their intellect and don't attend to their emotions on any level ... then they are bound for trouble," said Weiss.

23 March 2011

PKR, PR and the Sex Video - Zharrif Azrai

Yes, government leaders at times insult the people's intelligence in justifying their actions. PR politicians too, as it is becoming clearer now, are not immune from doing the same thing in their efforts to defend Anwar's reputation. They may just end up damaging the opposition more than any sex video could. After all, governing a country is much too important to be left to unquestioning and uncritical devotees of a personality cult.
by Zharrif Azrai via e-mail



Just like the current sodomy trial, this latest Anwar sex video episode shows how polarised and close-minded people are along political lines and beliefs.

It is both amazing and amusing how so many people are incredibly and unbelievably quick to condemn and vilify the video without so much as a glimpse of it. The most sorry of this lot are the PKR and other PR politicians. Surely good sense and prudence dictate that they withhold any comment about the video's authenticity until and unless they themselves had seen it.

But, no, sirrreee. They rushed in with denials which can only be explained by a belief on their part that their leader is a person blessed with infallibility and thus sheltered from the usual human frailties to commit any form of sin. On the planet that they dwell, Anwar Ibrahim is a chaste saint, truly a gift from God to the people from Malaysia. All their critical faculties go out through the window and there is no space within their sensibilities to ponder that maybe, just maybe, their leader may not be what he seems or claims to be. Because of this ingrained attitude, just as the sun can be predicted to rise from the east, they too can be predicted to meet any accusation of wrongdoing against Anwar with their own unsupported, unsubstantiated and increasingly wild conspiracy theories of how their saintly leader is being unfairly targeted. It's beginning to sound like the droning of a broken record – and getting tiresome.

The crucial point here is not the video itself, the veracity of which is unknown until it is seen by a wider audience. The point here is the manner in which the PR politicians are responding to this latest challenge. In being so blindly and stupidly devoted to the line that 'Anwar Ibrahim can do no wrong' and so blinkered by their hatred by Umno that they cannot think objectively any more, they risk disenchanting the voters, even the ones who are not necessarily pro-BN.

Yes, government leaders at times insult the people's intelligence in justifying their actions. PR politicians too, as it is becoming clearer now, are not immune from doing the same thing in their efforts to defend Anwar's reputation. They may just end up damaging the opposition more than any sex video could. After all, governing a country is much too important to be left to unquestioning and uncritical devotees of a personality cult.



ZHARRIF AZRAI

17 March 2011

Is Santa Claus Involved in the Conspiracy Against Anwar? - Pieter D'Cruz

PKR has sunk to UMNO's level. When UMNO set-up Umi Hafilda's ceramah across the road from where Anwar was speaking during the recent by-election in Kerdau, I was amused. When PKR announced the DNA roadshow, I was rolling on the ground laughing. It is so UMNO. What happened to the promise "we will not only be doing things better, we will be doing things differently"?. It sounds so hollow now.
by Pieter D'Cruz via e-mail



PKR's decision to launch the nationwide roadshow labeled "Datuk Najib Altantuya (DNA)" is ridiculous, almost farcical. Tit-for-Tat as reported by the news portal, Malaysian Insider. It is so infantile.

PKR has sunk to UMNO's level. When UMNO set-up Umi Hafilda's ceramah across the road from where Anwar was speaking during the recent by-election in Kerdau, I was amused. When PKR announced the DNA roadshow, I was rolling on the ground laughing. It is so UMNO.

What happened to the promise "we will not only be doing things better, we will be doing things differently"?. It sounds so hollow now.

The stark truth is that Anwar is under pressure to submit his DNA to prove his innocence. To divert attention from Anwar's quandary, PKR decides to resurrect the Altantuya murder case to hit back at Najib Razak. It is like flogging a dead horse.

Why the submission of the DNA is a contentious issue is beyond me. If I were charged with a sex crime and there was DNA evidence to prove my innocence, I would be kicking and screaming to give my DNA for testing.

Even if his DNA matches the DNA of male Y found on Saiful, Anwar still has room to manoeuvre. He could claim that his semen was carried by a white stork, smeared on Saiful by the tooth-fairy, egged by Santa Claus. I bet the defence would call the tooth-fairy and Santa Claus as witnesses.

To implicate Najib with the Altantuya murder case is absurd. His only link is that one of the suspects was a personal friend. That suspect was later acquitted by the court. The connection is so remote. It is akin to saying that since I am renting a house owned by Effendi Norwawi, I am also partying with Maya Karin.

In Anwar's sodomy case, the scenario and circumstances are wholly different. He was named by the complainant and he was proven to be at the place where the crime was committed during material time. The DNA, of course, is the smoking gun.

Notwithstanding all I have said above, I would still love to attend the DNA roadshow. It has been a long time since the last circus came to town.



PIETER D'CRUZ

14 March 2011

Maruah reformasi tercabar - Aktivis Jalan TAR

Anwar Ibrahim sebagai seorang pemimpin Anugerah Tuhan pasti prihatin yang serangan-serangan ini bukannya setakat peribadi beliau sahaja malah ditujukan kepada seluruh gerakan Reformasi. Bukan maruah Anwar Ibrahim sahaja yang tercabar tetapi kredibiliti semua Reformis juga tergugat. Anwar Ibrahim harus mengambil langkah berani dan bijak demi keutuhan gerakan Reformasi.
oleh Aktivis Jalan TAR melalui e-mel



Saya amat kesal dengan tindakan musuh-musuh Anwar Ibrahim yang mempolitikkan kes mahkamah yang sedang berlangsung. Beberapa demonstrasi telah dianjurkan di Petaling Jaya, Pulau Pinang dan Ipoh seolah-olah Anwar telah didapati bersalah oleh mahkamah. Walhal, mahkamah hanya menolak bahan-bahan bukti yang diperolehi secara tidak sah.

Sebagai seorang pendokong Reformasi tegar, saya yakin penuh Anwar ialah mangsa konspirasi politik. Pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO gentar dengan Anwar Ibrahim lalu terpaksa memfitnahkan beliau. Mereka berharap dengan menghumban Anwar ke penjara, gerakan Reformasi akan hilang taring.

Justeru itu, saya menyeru kepada Anwar untuk mengambil tindakan tegas supaya serangan-serangan musuh politik ini dapat ditangani. Anwar wajib menyerah sampel DNA untuk membuktikan beliau tidak bersalah. Saya percaya langkah tegas Anwar ini akan membuat musuh-musuh politik beliau mati akal.

Saya berkongsi kebimbangan Anwar yang bahan DNA tersebut mungkin akan dimanipulasikan. Untuk mengelakkan kemungkinan tersebut, saya mencadangkan ujian dan profiling sampel DNA itu dibuat secara profesional dan telus. Jika perlu, Majlis Peguam, Persatuan Perubatan Malaysia dan pakar-pakar genetik antarabangsa yang dilantik oleh Anwar akan menyelia proses tersebut.

Objektif memberi DNA hanya untuk mengenalpasti sama ada DNA lelaki Y yang dijumpai pada tubuh Saiful Bukhari Azlan padan dengan DNA Anwar Ibrahim. Walaupun jika ditakdirkan DNA-DNA itu padan, Anwar masih mempunyai ruang untuk mempertikai bagaimana air mani beliau diletakkan pada tubuh Saiful.

Anwar Ibrahim sebagai seorang pemimpin Anugerah Tuhan pasti prihatin yang serangan-serangan ini bukannya setakat peribadi beliau sahaja malah ditujukan kepada seluruh gerakan Reformasi. Bukan maruah Anwar Ibrahim sahaja yang tercabar tetapi kredibiliti semua Reformis juga tergugat. Anwar Ibrahim harus mengambil langkah berani dan bijak demi keutuhan gerakan Reformasi.

LAWAN TETAP LAWAN!!!



AKTIVIS JALAN TAR

Gerakan Anti-lelaki Y (GAY) - Abas Azizan

Saya bercadang untuk menubuhkan sebuah NGO, Gerakan Anti-lelaki Y atau lebih dikenali dengan nama singkat GAY, sebagai sebuah gerakan rakyat untuk melaksanakan proses eliminasi ini. Atas dasar BERANI KERANA BENAR, TAKUT KERANA SALAH, setiap lelaki Melayu diseluruh negara akan memberi sampel DNA mereka untuk disahkan sebagai bukan lelaki Y. GAY akan menyelia usaha ini.
oleh Abas Azizan melalui e-mel



Perbicaraan kes Sodomi 2 kini telah sampai ke titik yang amat getir. Bahan-bahan bukti yang dapat mengaitkan tertuduh, Anwar Ibrahim, dengan DNA yang terdapat pada tubuh pengadu, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, telah ditolak oleh mahkamah atas alasan teknikal.

Anwar bagaimanapun enggan memberi sampel DNA secara sukarela untuk penentuan. Anwar mendakwa bahawa bahan-bahan DNA tersebut akan digunakan kelak untuk menganiayai beliau. Saya amat faham sebab-sebab Anwar enggan memberi sampel DNA.

DNA lelaki Y telah disahkan sebagai DNA seorang lelaki Melayu. Keengganan Anwar untuk memberi sampel DNA telah menimbulkan satu keadaan dimana setiap lelaki Melayu yang telah baligh layak disyaki sebagai lelaki Y. Setiap lelaki Melayu adalah suspek dalam kes tersebut. Sebagai seorang lelaki Melayu tunggal ditempat kerja, saya terpaksa mengharungi jelingan serong dari pekerja-pekerja lain.

Oleh kerana Anwar enggan memberi sampel DNA, hanya proses eliminasi yang akan dapat mengatasi dilema ini. Semua lelaki Melayu perlu memberi sampel DNA mereka secara sukarela untuk ujian supaya dapat digugurkan daripada senarai suspek.

Saya bercadang untuk menubuhkan sebuah NGO, Gerakan Anti-lelaki Y atau lebih dikenali dengan nama singkat GAY, sebagai sebuah gerakan rakyat untuk melaksanakan proses eliminasi ini. Atas dasar BERANI KERANA BENAR, TAKUT KERANA SALAH, setiap lelaki Melayu diseluruh negara akan memberi sampel DNA mereka untuk disahkan sebagai bukan lelaki Y. GAY akan menyelia usaha ini.

Setelah disahkan sebagai bukan lelaki Y, GAY akan melaporkan kepada Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara untuk MyKad individu tersebut dikemaskini. Butir-butir peribadi seperti jantina dan bangsa di MyKad akan ditambah dengan perkataan "bukan Y".

GAY akan melaksanakan usaha ini sehingga tinggal hanya seorang lelaki Melayu terakhir yang tidak dapat mengkemaskini MyKad beliau. 

Semoga keadilan dapat ditegakkan dengan cara ini.



ABAS AZIZAN

13 March 2011

Finally, it’s all about perception - Raja Petra Kamaruddin

Let me say it again: Anwar is losing the perception war. Many who used to curse Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Sodomy 1 and swear that Anwar was being framed are not cursing Najib Tun Razak in Sodomy 2 and feel that maybe the allegation could be true.



This was the problem we faced in the past. We could never get Anwar Ibrahim’s legal and political advisors to agree on a common strategy.

And Anwar had more than one advisor. And each advisor had his/her own idea of what the best strategy was. This was why we considered the Sodomy 1 legal/political defence badly handled.

Some of these advisors lamented about the frustration they faced in getting Anwar to agree to a strategy and to stick to the agreed strategy. Sometimes the legal team embarked on a political campaign rather than a legal campaign. And sometimes the political team appeared to be launching a legal campaign rather than a political campaign.

This was probably the best example of too many cooks spoiling the broth. And an added frustration was: after getting Anwar to agree to a certain strategy, someone else would go meet Anwar and he would agree to another course of action. It appeared like ‘the last one in’ had the final say and the earlier agreed course of action would be abandoned in favour of the latest idea.

Any general would tell you that you do not change course in midstream. Once the direction has been decided you stick to it and see it to the end. Once the forces have advanced and you change course, this would mean utter chaos with everyone not only going in opposite directions but also at times bumping into each other.

This is a sure way of losing the battle and finding your forces trapped in the open. As they say, there are no bad soldiers, only bad commanders. And a bad commander is one who sends his/her forces all over the place with no clear direction from the top.

I used to be one of those who faced this frustration. Just as I thought everything had been agreed and a concrete battle plan had been formulated, I receive word that someone has managed to convince Anwar to agree to a new strategy and what had been earlier agreed was now no longer on.

There was many an occasion when I just gave up. When I inquired into whom this new ‘mastermind’ was, I was appalled to hear that the change of direction was mooted by the very person who was the architect of an earlier most disastrous campaign.

The fact that many of these people have since left Anwar and are now working for the other side just reinforced my suspicion. Were these people just incompetent and stupid or were they moles or Trojans horses whose job was to offer wrong advice so that Anwar’s campaign fails.

Sometimes I wonder. And when I interact with them I am far from impressed with their capabilities. I felt, as Malaysians would say, they are ‘talking cock’. How can such clever people with such high education and credentials be so dumb? Don’t they realise that what they are doing is sending Anwar closer to the gallows, so to speak?

This orgy of incompetence appears to be spreading to the Sodomy 2 campaign as well. Is Sodomy 2 a legal battle or a political battle? It has to be one or the other. It can’t be both at the same time.

Maybe since I am not involved in Sodomy 2 as I was in Sodomy 1 is the reason I am a bit confused. But then even when I was involved in Sodomy 1 I was equally confused. So surely it can’t be just me. And I know many other people out there are also very confused.

The ‘good’ thing about Sodomy 1, if we can really call it good, is that most, even those in Umno, were convinced that Anwar is innocent and a victim of a frame up. This is not so for Sodomy 2. In Sodomy 2, many, even those who support Anwar, are asking whether Anwar is really innocent or is there a possibility that he may actually be guilty.

This is what is bad about Sodomy 2. I don’t know what the court is finally going to rule but what the court rules is not significant because many do not trust the courts anyway. Even if the court rules that Anwar is guilty this does not mean that people would believe it since the courts can’t be trusted.

But the court has not yet entered a verdict in Sodomy 2. And in Sodomy 1, even when the court said that Anwar is guilty, everyone said that this is a lie and that Anwar is innocent. But for Sodomy 2, even though the court has not made a ruling yet, many are wondering whether Anwar may have actually done what he has been accused of.

This reflects a failure on the part of Anwar’s team. Why have they failed so miserably when in Sodomy 1 they managed the perception war so well? What has gone wrong? And what are the issues being raised by these people who were so convinced of Anwar’s innocence in Sodomy 1 but are beginning to have doubts in Sodomy 2?

Anwar has to decide whether Sodomy 2 is a legal battle or a political battle. In Sodomy 1 it was a political battle. Anwar may have lost the legal battle but he won the political battle most impressively. Therefore, whatever the court may have said, Anwar is innocent in the minds of most people.

If Sodomy 2 is a legal battle and not a political battle, then Anwar has to focus on the legal issues. But if Sodomy 2, just like Sodomy 1, is a political battle, then Anwar has to manage the perception war a bit better than he is currently doing. If not, even if the court rules that Anwar is innocent and drops the charge against him, many would still say he is guilty -- just that the court failed to prove his guilt (the opposite of what happened in Sodomy 1).

I know Anwar is going to be most unpleased about what I am saying here. But then, does Anwar want to hear what people are saying or does he want to hear only nice things (which means I would have to lie)?

The way the case is dragging on with postponement after postponement is setting tongues wagging. They are asking: why doesn’t Anwar get the trial over and done with? Would it not be better that we get to the bottom of this whole thing and once and for all resolved the matter?

The DNA issue is another matter that is confusing most people who are now asking what is Anwar trying to hide. They are asking: why not do a DNA match and prove once and for all that he is innocent? Maybe there is a legal strategy here that we are not being told about. But it certainly leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

Let me say it again: Anwar is losing the perception war. Many who used to curse Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Sodomy 1 and swear that Anwar was being framed are not cursing Najib Tun Razak in Sodomy 2 and feel that maybe the allegation could be true.

This, to me, is the crux of the whole thing. Never mind what the court says. It is what the people are saying which will be the final test.

And, in ruling in Anwar’s favour on the DNA samples obtained illegally when they detained him overnight in the police lockup, the impression given is that Anwar is getting a fair trial after all. That victory may actually work against Anwar. Later, if the court finds Anwar guilty, it will be very difficult to say that the trial has been rigged. Did the court not rule in Anwar’s favour on the DNA issue?

I fear that Anwar may have won the battle but may lose the war. And finally it is not what the court says but what the people think that will matter. This will decide whether Anwar is seen as a credible opposition leader and whether Pakatan Rakyat with Anwar at the helm is seen as a credible alternative government.

Politics is about perception. In Sodomy 1 the perception was in Anwar’s favour. In Sodomy 2, the perception is not very good. How are Anwar and his team of very contradicting advisors going to tackle this problem? I wonder.

Anwar goes on the defence - Joceline Tan

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is at his lowest ebb since March 2008 and he is turning to the ceramah circuit to defend himself against multi-pronged attacks.



One of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s oldest and most loyal friends ended his days as a widower on Thursday night.

Tumpat MP Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar, better known as Datuk KJ, remarried a year after his first wife died of cancer and the guests of honour were Anwar and Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

But the honour of making the speech was given to PAS politician Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad of Terengganu. Dr Syed Azman was the matchmaker for Kamaruddin and his Malacca-born wife and he almost brought the house down when he teased the newly-weds: “Last week, we failed to capture the Merlimau seat but, never mind, Datuk Kamaruddin has successfully conquered Malacca.”

It was a relaxing affair for many of the Pakatan Rakyat politicians that evening, and particularly for Anwar who has been increasingly under siege.

The PKR de facto leader is at his lowest point since his post-2008 political comeback. For a couple of years after the March 8 “tsunami”, it seemed like Anwar could walk on water. But very little has gone right for him in recent months, be it his party affairs or the sodomy trial.

PKR people still insist he is Pakatan’s Prime Minister-in-waiting. But most PAS and DAP leaders have stopped talking about the road to Putrajaya. They are more concerned about whether they can hold on to their seats now it is clear they are unable to hold on to the Malay vote.

Anwar has just climbed back from the precipice in the sodomy trial. The trial had been inching towards revealing the identity of Lelaki Y (Male Y), the term investigators used for the mystery man whose DNA was allegedly found in Saiful.

On Tuesday, the courts ruled that several items with the DNA of Lelaki Y could not be tendered as evidence. It was a big win for Anwar’s legal team because the evidence would have tied him to Lelaki Y.

He must have felt great relief because his detractors had begun taunting him as Lelaki Y when he campaigned in Kerdau. He was greeted with banners that said, “Mr Y, selamat datang ke Kerdau” - and that was one of the more polite banners.

On top of that, he had to endure a “joint ceramah” with his female nemesis Ummi Hafilda Ali who was speaking just a stone’s throw away from him. People on his side of the ceramah could hear quite clearly what she was saying about him, and it was not pleasant stuff.

PKR secretary-general and Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution denied that Ummi rattled his boss that night.

“Anwar has been through a lot. It takes more than that to upset him,” said Saifuddin.

But PKR politicians are rather wary of her given the crowds she pulled in Kerdau and Merlimau. Besides, who else apart from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has spoken so explicitly and daringly about Anwar?

Anwar’s detractors would like to think that his downward slide began after he failed to deliver on his Sept 16 claim.

But the real slide started after PKR’s trouble-ridden elections last year and the defections from his party. It gave the impression that he could not control PKR and that his priorities were too wrapped up in his court case.

Some think that Anwar is in the midst of one of those perfect storms.

Apart from the trial, the publication of Dr Mahathir’s memoirs has sort of switched things up. It could not have been worse timing for Anwar. Dr Mahathir has repeated his accusations about Anwar’s sexual exploits, this time in print.

At the book launch, a mischievous Dr Mahathir said he was “trembling” at the thought of being sued. Of course, he was telling Anwar to “bring it on, man, bring it on”.

The people around Anwar are furious about the book.

“I’m not buying the book. It’s a story we have heard before,” said Muaz Omar, an aide of Azmin’s.

At the PKR political bureau meeting two nights after the book launch, several party leaders felt that Anwar should not let Dr Mahathir get away with what he has written.

“Anwar’s stand is that he had long ago decided to move on where Dr Mahathir was concerned. He said he’s not interested in challenging an old script and he doesn’t want to be stuck in another court case,” said Saifuddin.

Anwar prefers the court of public opinion rather than the court of law. He has been on a ceramah blitz ostensibly to promote the Pakatan manifesto, the Buku Jingga, but also to counter the renewed attacks against him.

Dr Mahathir has become a central target of his attacks the last few days. He does not rebut what Dr Mahathir is saying about his sexuality but he has hit out at the former premier’s cronies and his children’s businesses and wealth. He seems to be steering clear of Ummi, though.

Anwar also suffered a setback when a hoped-for meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not materialise. Shortly before Clinton’s visit, a news portal reported that a meeting was being lined up. It was a rather strange report because the meeting was apparently never on the cards.

There has been a cooling on the part of the US administration towards Anwar’s cause and Clinton’s stance during her recent visit was in sharp contrast to that of Vice-President Al Gore at the height of Sodomy 1.

Moreover, Clinton’s visit follows improved ties between the United States and Malaysia. The Obama administration sees Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as a Muslim leader with whom they can sit down and have a dialogue.

In that sense, Anwar’s crusade against Apco may have more to do with Apco’s role in presenting Anwar’s sodomy case to US lawmakers than Apco’s so-called Jewish connections.

The lobby group has explained the trial in a way that Americans can relate to, that it is an alleged sexual harassment involving an employer and a subordinate and the trial is a result of a report lodged by a complainant, unlike the first trial where the Government was the main initiator.

But the most damaging strike has been the Wikileaks report quoting Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew as saying that Anwar knowingly walked into a trap. Singapore has played down the report but has not denied its contents.

The success of Najib’s visit to Turkey was another blow to Anwar who counts Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a friend and supporter.

Erdogan had welcomed Najib in Ankara, saying, “this is my brother Najib and I am happy to have him here.”

Their scheduled 10-minute four-eyed meeting over-ran into 45 minutes and Erdogan insisted on a joint press conference. The Turkish Premier also eschewed protocol and insisted that Najib ride in the same car as him. It was a political coup of sorts for Najib.

All these events add up to a challenging time ahead for Anwar and his party.

“I can’t blame Anwar if he feels he is all alone. He has been consumed by successive crises and there are now less people whom he can count on to defend him and do the attacking. To him, the trial is to stop his political ambitions and his goal of power, and it is taking a lot out of him,” said Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian.

Reporters covering his trial said he seems to be holding up well and is still able to see the lighter side of things. For instance, when a witness was asked to identify him, Anwar, who was sitting in the dock, playfully dodged as though trying to hide.

He is reportedly upset that PKR members have not been turning up in court to show him their support.

Recently, party members received the following SMS from PKR Tanjung Karang chief Yahaya Sahri: “Salam, sokongan DSAI di mahkamah amat merosot hampir tiada. Saya ingin mencadangkan agar kita atur kawan-kawan kita drp cabang turun beri sokongan moral, klu kita bergilir pun ok, satu cabang klu hantar 20 org pun dah ok. Jadual mahkamah akan saya sms.”

Yahaya was urging PKR divisions to send members whether in rotation or groups of 20 to show moral support for Anwar because the number of supporters in court had dwindled to almost nil.

Anwar is the ultimate political animal. A lesser person would have cracked under the pressure. He told Saifuddin that when he goes on the ground and sees a big crowd, he feels motivated.

The crowds at his ceramah have indeed been growing and a lot of it has to do with his trial approaching a critical stage and the sensational evidence coming out.

Anwar, said academic Prof James Chin, is in “distraction mode”.

“He cannot devote his full time to Pakatan or PKR. The trial is taking away his attention and focus. But everything hinges on the next general election. If Najib does not get his two-thirds majority, he is in trouble. If Pakatan does badly then they are in trouble,” said Chin of Monash University Sunway Campus.

The attacks by Dr Mahathir, said Chin, has impact among rural Malays but less so among the urban crowd.

Anwar’s supporters also bristle at the suggestion that he has become a liability for Pakatan. But privately, PAS and DAP leaders are frustrated that Anwar has overwhelmed their political agenda.

Anwar, said blogger Syed Azizi Syed Aziz who is better known as Kickdafella, has image problems in the rural Malays areas and that becomes a problem for PAS. Outwardly, DAP and PAS still stand by him but, privately, they are riddled with doubts about the trial and his ability to hold things together.

Moreover, Generation Y, the youth cohort born between the mid 1970s and 2000, is not rallying around Anwar the way Generation X took to the streets to support him during his first trial. Generation Y is neither loyal to Anwar’s politics nor affiliated with the ruling coalition. They are as critical of Pakatan politicians as they are of those in Barisan.

As such, Pakatan’s claim that young voters are with them is not exactly true. The young voters are still out there and their vote will go to the party that can offer them a better future - and that means education, jobs, homes and a lifestyle of their choice.

Anwar is in a difficult political situation and he will be fighting many fronts in the months ahead.

10 March 2011

Anwar and Reformasi: Synonymous Exclusivity? - Goh Soon Sin

If criticisms were to be made by such people against Anwar, is Saifuddin going to jump up and attribute it to a devious desire to help the enemy? Is Anwar so infallible that he should not be subjected to scrutiny and criticism, ever? If Saifuddin wants to make a personality cult of Anwar, the God-given leader and a taboo to criticise the cult leader, he can well go ahead but there are countless many Reformasi supporters who are more matured and progressive in their thinking and consequently have refused to make Anwar the indispensable figure of Reformasi. In this day and age, no attitude is more corruptive than the belief that any particular individual is indispensable to a cause. Saifuddin needs some catching up to do in his political beliefs.
by Goh Soon Sin via e-mail



Judging by Saifuddin Nasution's response, the criticism that Anwar Ibrahim is a liability to the opposition seems to have hit a raw nerve.

Usually what may account for such defensiveness and overreaction, as displayed by Saifuddin, is the harrowing closeness of the criticism or accusation to the truth.

In his eagerness to defend his boss, his apparent message is that Anwar should never be the subject of any criticism. Such a criticism, in his eyes, can have at its core nothing other than the impure motive of giving support and succour to his party's adversaries.

Well, I have news for Saifuddin. He should not try to equate one harsh word against Anwar to criticisms against Reformasi. There are probably millions out here who support and want to see genuine change and reforms take place in this beloved country and yet are not enamoured by Anwar Ibrahim in any way. This may well include PAS and DAP people in their thousands who are just subscribing to the current party policies as set by their leadership in the struggle against a common foe.

If criticisms were to be made by such people against Anwar, is Saifuddin going to jump up and attribute it to a devious desire to help the enemy? Is Anwar so infallible that he should not be subjected to scrutiny and criticism, ever? If Saifuddin wants to make a personality cult of Anwar, the God-given leader and a taboo to criticise the cult leader, he can well go ahead but there are countless many Reformasi supporters who are more matured and progressive in their thinking and consequently have refused to make Anwar the indispensable figure of Reformasi. In this day and age, no attitude is more corruptive than the belief that any particular individual is indispensable to a cause. Saifuddin needs some catching up to do in his political beliefs.

All things considered, is it after all such an outrageously unreasonable thing to say that Anwar is proving to be a liability to the opposition and the struggle to reform this country?

His time, energy and attention are bogged down by his sodomy trial which has been very prolonged due in many instances to requests from his own counsel.

Recent disclosures from the trial, putting aside the alleged sexual improprieties, have raised reasonable questions about his judiciousness in choosing those individuals who worked closely with him.

During the PKR party elections, which to many observers were a shambles, he was not only a de facto leader, he was also largely an in absentia one. And that probably accentuated the difficulties the party was having in managing the process.

During the Selangor state secretary controversy, save for one PAS-organised public rally in which he spoke, Anwar was distinctive by his silence and aloofness from the whole thing even though Selangor is the one state led by his party.

It's a long walk to freedom, as Mandela said. And the last thing we want in that walk is excess baggage in the form of a cult leader.



GOH SOON SIN

27 February 2011

Anwar Ibrahim & The Way Forward - Khoo Kay Peng

I would like to go beyond the issue of shadow cabinet. I would like to urge Anwar to take a deep look at his own leadership of Pakatan and PKR.



It takes a great courage for Dr Malcolm Puthucherry to write a soft criticism of Anwar Ibrahim's assertion that he does not need a shadow cabinet because Pakatan had set up parliamentary committees to mirror the ruling party's cabinet.

Malcolm wrote:

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s assertion that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) does not need a shadow cabinet is nothing less than an admission that the three-party pact he leads is very much less than the sum of its parts.

He added:

No, the real reason for not having a shadow cabinet which Anwar, ever the consummate political creature, refuses to tell the public is plain and simple: PR lacks the necessary cohesion and collective vision to come to an agreement between its member parties as to which ministerial portfolio ought to be entrusted to which party and the courage of conviction to announce it to the public. No amount of obfuscation by Anwar or any other PR leader can cover up that vulnerability of the pact.

Real proponents of a two-party system would have been able to view the issue in a broader perspective. It is sad to find the writer, Malcolm, being personally and viciously attacked by Anwar's hardcore supporters. By doing so, these supporters are missing an opportunity to urge Anwar himself to take a serious look at the gains and losses he has made since the last general election.

Malcolm's argument on the need of a shadow cabinet is legitimate and logical. It has been my fear that Pakatan coalition members may not have a post Putrajaya plan. What happens after winning the federal power? The ideological and policy differences may be easily diverted and avoided for the moment because these parties are bounded by a common aim to bring down the Barisan government.

It is impossible for us to be convinced that Pakatan is ready to govern if the Anwar-led Pakatan does not convey to us a comprehensive and detailed roadmap to governance.

It is illogical and desperate to suggest that any announcement now will render these shadow cabinet members to vicious attacks from Perkasa, Utusan and Umno. Any Pakatan politicians hope to be part of the next cabinet must be able to withstand any political onslaught. If they cannot take the heat now what make us think that they will be able to do so later?

The only Pakatan MP who is actively engaging the ruling government is MP Tony Pua. What have happened to the rest? Where's Pakatan alternative budget if there is a whole parliamentary committee mirroring the finance ministry? How can Pakatan reverse the fortune of PKFZ, Bakun dam and a host of other financially disastrous projects? I don't think these issues can be easily swept under the carpet.

I would like to go beyond the issue of shadow cabinet. I would like to urge Anwar to take a deep look at his own leadership of Pakatan and PKR.

He must address these issues if he is hoping to make bigger gains/inroads compared to 2008:

  1. Organisational weakness within PKR and Pakatan. Surely Anwar cannot walk on a moral high ground for what had happened to the defections in Perak, Penang & Selangor. Anwar must answer to the political chaos of Sabah PKR which has badly affected the coalition's chance in the next state elections.

  2. Anwar must initiate a sincere and honest audit of his own leadership. It has become rather meek and unconvincing to continue positioning the whole coalition's fate on Anwar's leadership alone. Anwar's own political star is waning. The coalition needs to offer something more and something new to complement Anwar's oratory ability and personal charm alone. Anwar needs to facilitate and groom a list of next line leaders who are capable to take over from him. No one is indispensable and Anwar has appeared weary and tired compared to the 1999 reformasi movement. Age is a contributing factor. Next is complacency in his own party ranks.

  3. Anwar must seriously ask himself if he had contributed to the dispersion and disintegration of the opposition front. Anwar was also a contributor to the creation of UBF, Kita, MCLM and others. If he had not being distracted by the latest sodomy scandal, a lack of new ideas to organize his party better and possibly poor decision to back some wrong individuals in his party these new forces would have been created because there is no real reason for their existence or need.

  4. Caught in the web of sodomy scandal 2, Anwar should have made some strategic decision to initiate a leadership transition in his party and the newly minted coalition. I am not saying that we should use the sodomy case to push down Anwar. But Anwar should know who the authority is up against. A way to divert the attention away from him which may slow down the progress of his party and the coalition to build on the 2008 gains is to divert the target and attention away from his leadership of PKR and Pakatan. New leaders should have been groomed to take over his reforms agenda and work on strengthening the party and coalition.

It is still not too late for Anwar to rethink his own political strategy and positioning.

Meanwhile, I hope pro-Anwar supporters would react more kindly to criticism. By doing what they did to Malcolm is not going to set Pakatan supporters apart from the Barisan's.