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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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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

Anwar's Sodomy Trial: A response to Nik Nazmi - Zharrif Azrai

One undeniable fact is that PAS has been rather silent about it. And that silence, as Zaid had pointed out, is rather deafening. Such was Nik Nazmi's defensiveness over this that he came quite close to claiming to be a spokesperson for PAS with regard to the party's stand over recent revelations in the sodomy trial. Sorry, sir, we would rather wait for a PAS person to speak up about this.

by Zharrif Azrai via e-mail

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Nik Nazmi's response on 16 March to Zaid Ibrahim's advice to Anwar Ibrahim about giving up his DNA sample appears to be an overreaction and surprisingly defensive.

He claims that Zaid while in PKR had enthusiastically advocated that the case against Anwar was made up. Very conveniently and self-servingly, Nik Nazmi had neglected to provide the instances as to exactly when and where Zaid had done so. Suffice it seems that Zaid was a party member and all PKR party members have to close their minds and subscribe to the dogma that Anwar is being framed. Any sense of objectivity or objective opinion in viewing the Anwar sodomy trial apparently is considered an act of heresy. What a fine progressive political organisation PKR is turning out to be.

What Zaid has advised of Anwar is shared by many other people. Zaid is right when he said should Anwar be unwilling to volunteer facts that can clear his name, it will be difficult for the majority of the rakyat to swallow. It's no use for Nik Nazmi to paint people who hold such a reasonable opinion to be of the same level as Perkasa or GAP or what not. He should learn to distinguish the message from the messenger.

One undeniable fact is that PAS has been rather silent about it. And that silence, as Zaid had pointed out, is rather deafening. Such was Nik Nazmi's defensiveness over this that he came quite close to claiming to be a spokesperson for PAS with regard to the party's stand over recent revelations in the sodomy trial. Sorry, sir, we would rather wait for a PAS person to speak up about this.

As for other matters related to the trial that Nik Nazmi took exception in his statement, they have all been dealt with during the trial. The full court transcripts show that proceedings have been quite unlike what Anwar's followers have tried to hold it out to be. Defence lawyers have had every chance to cross-examine witnesses and challenge their credibility and the evidence thus far adduced. Yes, on some occasions the court ruled against the defence but in others, the court did rule in its favour. It's this latter fact that people like Nik Nazmi and PKR have so studiously ignored or glossed over in their efforts to equate sodomy I with sodomy II in the public perception.

They seem to forget that such efforts appear quite dishonest and futile when unlike sodomy I where the defendant actually was deprived of every possible avenue for clearing his name, in sodomy II, as Zaid Ibrahim pointed out, he has a very good opportunity to do so.



ZHARRIF AZRAI

Pakatan must buck up in Selangor

Several DAP grassroots leaders have sounded the alarm bells, telling Pakatan Rakyat to buck up or risk losing Selangor to the reinvigorated Barisan Nasional at the next general election.

at Free Malaysia Today

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Several grassroots DAP leaders have voiced their concern over the declining support for Pakatan Rakyat, the loosely formed opposition coalition, especially among the Indian community in the state.

This has raised concerns if Pakatan, which has been administering Selangor since the 2008 general election, would be able to withstand the mighty Barisan Nasional (BN) election machinery at the next general election.

The matter, some DAP grassroots leaders said, was also raised at a closed-door meeting by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is also Penang chief minister, with some 100 DAP grassroots leaders in Kelana Jaya last night.

DAP grassroots leaders, who attended the meeting, told FMT that Lim had pointed out that several strategies used by BN chief and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was gathering momentum, and was indeed winning the hearts and minds of the Indian community.

“Lim in general believed Selangor DAP lacked leadership compared to Penang and Perak in reaching out to the people, especially those in lower income group.”

“They (Indian voters) are not aware of what is happening around them and they are clueless of state government programmes in uplifting the socio-economic status of the Indian community in Selangor,” said a DAP leader after the meeting.

Prior to 2008, Malaysian Indians were staunch supporters of the ruling BN. But several unresolved issues led the community to throw its backing for the opposition at the 2008 general election. This coupled with several other reasons resulted in the BN suffering an unprecedented loss at the polls.

The BN lost Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor in 2008. It also lost its long-held two-thirds majority in Parliament. However, Perak is back in the hands of the BN after three state assemblymen pulled out and became independent state assemblymen in support of the BN.

Selangor main battle ground

There are 56 state seats in Selangor, which has about 1.56 million registered voters. Indian voters make up 220,000 or 14% of the total voters in Selangor.

Of the 56 seats, there are at least 20% Indian voters in at least 30 seats. This 20% could play a deciding role in the outcome of the 30 seats and ultimately decide on who forms the state government.

The DAP member said although Lim acknowledged that Pakatan in Selangor had initiated several programmes for the community since taking power, there are certain areas which need to be ironed out.

Lim is expected to hold similar meetings throughout the country although DAP believes that the “main battle” would be in Selangor as the BN wanted to capture the state at all costs.

“He (Lim) wanted the party to reach out to the people of Selangor by highlighting policies of the state government and its delivery system.”

“When people have better understanding of the delivery system, then there is no reason for them to reject the government which delivers,” he added.

Among DAP leaders who attended the meeting were Ronnie Liu, Teresa Kok, Tony Phua and Charles Santiago.

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

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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

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

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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

Anwar Must Remain Courageous For His Followers - Aktivis Reformasi

Malaysians will always peek to see if their leader is made of the best moral fibre. In this respect, Anwar now has a chance to proactively clear his name by submitting to a DNA test supervised by the courts. This is not about Anwar not being compelled under the law to prove his innocence. This is about Anwar reaching out to Malaysians who admire him by helping them to dispel all untruths about him. This is not about his alleged sexual deviancy. It's about honesty or otherwise after the matter was alleged.

by Aktivis Reformasi

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Contrary to the wishes of divisive forces, Malaysians are not going to be dancing in the streets celebrating Anwar's going to jail or otherwise. Malaysians generally are not interested in punishing Anwar for his alleged decadent habits. He and his family have suffered enough without Malaysians gloating about the truth.

Malaysians are more interested in changes in the way this country is governed. They have been looking for a leader to galvanise and to rule over the changes. Anwar had said things which appealed to Malaysians. They have given him a break on March 8th, 2008. They have been watching over the last three years to see if they had made the right choice. Nothing is more dangerous to the country than to have a person who is a lying incompetent closeted deviant holding the reins of power.

Anwar's competency as a leader who will supposedly shun business-as-usual politics has been severely tested in his handling or non-handling of divisive issues in his coalition. There have been no concrete proposals for long term solutions. Granted it is not for public discourse, but the public can always sense out through his actions and inactions on issues; especially those he bore direct responsibility to resolve. His devil-may-care attitude about the alleged rigging of his party elections surely graded him in the low Cs. His sweeping under the carpet of the huge divergence between PAS and DAP ideologies smacks of a leader that procrastinates in order to hold the ship together until Putrajaya. He doesn't seem to care if by then the time-bomb will be a nuclear explosion.

Malaysians will always peek to see if their leader is made of the best moral fibre. In this respect, Anwar now has a chance to proactively clear his name by submitting to a DNA test supervised by the courts. This is not about Anwar not being compelled under the law to prove his innocence. This is about Anwar reaching out to Malaysians who admire him by helping them to dispel all untruths about him. This is not about his alleged sexual deviancy. It's about honesty or otherwise after the matter was alleged.

When the courts found him guilty in Sodomy I, most Malaysians chose to follow their hearts and minds and opined that he was a victim of a conspiracy to the charges then. They responded by supporting him throughout his incarceration, and crowned him potential prime minister upon his release. The courts were rendered impotent in the mind of the masses.

Similarly if in Sodomy II he gets off on a technicality, Malaysians will forever wonder about the truth about their so-called righteous saviour. There is nothing that Anwar should be afraid of in submitting to a court-supervised DNA test. Even if the DNA of Male Y matches with his, doubts can still be raised whether the semen was planted in Saiful's rectum. With the fine defence team that he has, this should not be rocket-science. Anwar should not let his persecution complex override the dire needs for the truth among his believers.

Unless of course, Anwar may be afraid of the possible questions raised as to how something as sexually intimate as the fresh semen of a 63-year old potential prime minister can be so readily available in public domain.

Surely his demure wife is not a co-conspirator.



AKTIVIS REFORMASI

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

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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

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.

by Raja Petra Kamarudin at Malaysia Today

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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.

by Joceline Tan at The Star

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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.

Senior PKR member suspended by PKR within 3 DAYS of show cause letter

By now we should all know how inefficient PKR is. However, when it comes to suspending its members, PKR can be surprisingly efficient. Within 3 days of sending a show-cause letter to long-time party member Dr. Joyce Lee, PKR had Dr. Joyce suspended.

Published below is Dr. Joyce's reply to the show cause letter dated 7 March 2011. Within 48 hours of receiving this letter, PKR decided to suspend Dr. Joyce's membership.

by Dr. Joyce Lee via MalaysiaToday

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via Email and AR Registered Letter

8 March 2011

Dear Disciplinary Committee Chairman Dato’ Dr. Tan Kee Kwong

RE: RESPONSE TO SHOW CAUSE LETTER
(Your Ref: SUA2011/SKR/JKD/0356)

Within 48 hours after this letter,
long-time PKR member and activist
Dr. Joyce Lee was suspended from the Party

In response to your show cause letter dated 7 March 2011 about the alleged statements I made on Facebook that hurt the image of Party, Ketua Umum, Deputy President and Central Leadership Council (MPP).


Facebook

First of all, Facebook is a social network site for friendship, common interest, beliefs, knowledge sharing, and Facebook friends are by invitation only. The conversations I had on my Facebook wall with families and friends are similar to the private conversations I had at my house. Is it logic for PKR to ask all its members to officially explain every private conversation they had at their houses eavesdropping by someone outside the window? In which eavesdropper seldom hear anything good of themselves.

Statements I made on Facebook:

“Azmin is anak angkat Mahatir, he has never stayed away from UMNO in terms of connections, so to enjoy “money” dropping from the sky…”

This is a fact that Azmin Ali is the adopted son of Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali (the wife of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad), and there is closed tie between the family of Azmin’s father and the family of Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali. Can Azmin Ali explain his imported car business which is still in operation till now, in which APs are only given to the selected few in UMNO? Why there is no one (even UMNO) makes noise about Azmin to continue enjoying APs and to continue with his imported car business?

“90% of MPP are without credibility that won because of jumped on the dirty bandwagon of Azmin. Anwar could turn 2010 PKR election as a milestone in the Malaysian political history, but he choose to make it an universal laughing stock because of Azmin. Big price to pay!”

The fact that there is fraud renders the whole election process a sham. MPP Christina Liew mentioned the irregularities in the polls in several Sabah divisions (Malaysiakini dated 12 November 2010). Press conferences were hold and memorandums were submitted by Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, Chegubard (Badrul Hisham Shaharin) and Dato’ Zaid Ibrahim (Malaysiakini dated 12 November 2010), in which President Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah promised malpractices in the party elections conduct would be thoroughly probed (Malaysiakini dated 12 November 2010). Even Ketua Umum Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim admitted flaws in polls and vowed sweeping probe (Malaysiakini dated 28 November 2010). During the PKR congress in November 2010, Secretary-General Saifuddin Nasution said that the report on the investigations on the allegations would be made two weeks after the congress (The Sun Daily dated 27 December 2010), in which we’re still waiting for the report.

“Why should PKR members bother about their KPIs? Seeing the fact that PKR Deputy President “menang by tipu”, PKR Election Director, PKR Parliamentarian Whip, ADUN Bukit Antarabangsa, MP Gombak, Ketua Cabang Gombak cum PPN Selangor didn’t even pass his KPIs.”

How can someone like Azmin Ali who flunked his own KPIs, accused of being aloof and lacking the grassroots’ touch be effective in constituency service and grassroots rapport, as well as be leadership by example? (Free Malaysia Today dated 21 February 2011). PKR has a pool of qualified leaders. We need rational explanation from top leader why non-performing Azmin is appointed with so many important party posts? Also, please study the feedback of many blog news readers, PKR members and Azmin’s constituents about the bad public perception he has.


Deterioration of Party Image

I would like to stress that as a member of ADIL since its inception, what I said/say is purely due to the love for our Party and Country, as well as the passion to bring about real change for the betterment of Malaysian politics. I am not against the Party, but I indignantly denounce the selfish and wicked individuals/leaders that damaged the party’s image and wrecked the Hope of the People. Can MPP make impartial and appropriate group decision when it contains so many individuals who played tag together each other in obtaining the MPP posts by fraudulent means during the party election? Therefore, the quality and credibility of the existing MPP and the so-called collective party leadership are seriously in doubt. This will definitely have a detrimental effect on PKR/PR, because we can’t expect the majority one-sided MPP to field vetted and credible candidates for GE13, especially if there is no proper implementation of Candidates Selection Criteria and KPI ratings. We can’t see the leadership lineup formed after the notorious party election can help to clean our Party’s name in producing many frogs and non-performing YBs.

To say again, the Facebook comment is similar to private conversation with friends, and my opinion was not targeting the general public. It should not, therefore be considered an offence as it would be if I gave a press conference, appeared on TV or wrote to a mainstream newspaper. So, on what ground I am accused to deliberately damage the image of Party?

Culprits who actually damaged the Image of Party and the unity of Members:

1. Zuraida Kamaruddin

Talking about Facebook, what action has been taken on Women Chief Zuraida Kamaruddin so far (she used MCMC, an UMNO agency to oppress our own PKR member by curbing freedom of expression on Facebook)? Ketua Umum Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his email reply dated 3 December 2010 suggested Zuraida to be referred to Disciplinary Committee (please find the attached copy of the email communication).

Also, what is the disciplinary action taken on Zuraida for instructing her agents to unethically “misplace” many MATWC Meeting Minutes and MPWP 2010-2013 candidates’ nomination forms (please find the attached complaint letter of Wanita Cabang Batu Kawan to Central Elections Committee Head Dr. Molly Cheah, c.c. Secretary-General Saifuddin Nasution dated 14 October 2010)? Further to that, did Disciplinary Committee take action on Zuraida for openly sabotaging a free and fair party election and her blatant lies to the media that she won the Women Chief post without contest on 15 October 2010 (attached herewith copy of Nanyang Siang Pau) before the nomination dateline 16 October 2010? In actual fact there were four qualified Women Chief candidates and a 3-corner-fight for the top Women Wing post.

2. Azmin Ali

Azmin Ali has vowed to start his witch-hunt instead of calling all party members to close rank right after “winning” deputy presidency unofficially (Malaysiakini dated 22 November 2011). What is the disciplinary action taken on Azmin for going to the media to openly damage the image of Party, as well as to demoralize and disunite the party members?

3. Mansor Othman

Vice President Mansor Othman told the media that PKR has started its spring cleaning to clear all the dissenting voices before the forthcoming general election (Nanyang Siang Pau dated 25 January 2011). Even my name and photo was published in the January’s paper suggesting I would be one of them to receive show-cause letter, in which I actually received it now in March. Is this the pre-planned witch-hunt as Azmin and gang vowed to? Also, it is another blatant example of going to the media to divide party members and to injure party’s image. Any stern action is taken on Mansor Othman?


All in all, it is no exaggeration for Party members to call Azmin and gang hypocrites and arrogant asses, after all the damages they have done to our beloved Party. Don’t tell us no action taken on the evildoers associated with the party election frauds, witch-hunt and disintegration of party forces before GE13 is a “deal” and an overture to push PKR/PR to electoral doom? I hope party leadership can also explain the alleged “deal” between PKR top leader with Prime Minister Najib Rajak to stand acquitted on the charge which is widely spreading now.

PS: I believe Dato’ Tan can understand the contents of Nanyang Siang Pau and can help to translate to the Disciplinary Committee Members.

Thank you.

Yours truly,



DR. JOYCE LEE YUEH CHOO
c.c.: Secretary-General Saifuddin Nasution

Pakatan Rakyat at crossroads — Lim Sue Goan

During the by-election campaign period, the DAP and PAS still had something to do but the PKR was completely marginalised, with nothing to do. PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could only use his charisma and charm at ceramahs, but couldn’t make headways to penetrate the kampung and reclamation areas.

by Lim Sue Goan at mySinChew.com via The Malaysian Insider

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There have been 16 by-elections since the 2008 general election, and no more by-elections will be held till the next general election. This is because Article 54 of the Federal Constitution states that a casual vacancy falling on a date within two years of the end of the five-year term of Parliament does not need to be filled, and the lifespan of the current Parliament is just two years to its end.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) is apparently catching up from behind in the electoral marathon, and is making an eight-to-eight drawn game. The Pakatan Rakyat, meanwhile, seems to be losing its stamina in the race to Putrajaya, allowing the BN to overtake it.

Since the November year last, the Pakatan Rakyat has lost five by-elections. It surely is not just luck that the BN vote majorities have gradually increased, compared to the March 2008 general election.

Take the Kerdau state by-election as an example. The BN gained 159 more majority votes compared to the 2004 general election, proving that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has regained full support in his Pahang home turf.

After the polling results for the Merlimau and Kerdau state by-elections were announced, the DAP and MCA started to argue again over whether Chinese votes have returned to the BN. Meanwhile, PAS claimed that it has received more reclamation area votes.

During the by-election campaign period, the DAP and PAS still had something to do but the PKR was completely marginalised, with nothing to do. PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could only use his charisma and charm at ceramahs, but couldn’t make headways to penetrate the kampung and reclamation areas.

PAS has suffered four of the five defeated by-elections. It is indeed a bitter blow to the party. It is disadvantageous to PAS in defending Kelantan.

Coincidentally, the Kota Baru Municipal Council had taken action on business premises selling lottery tickets before the Kerdau by-election polling day. Was PAS trying to play up religious issues to fight for Muslim votes?

Why didn’t the Kelantan state government ban the sale of lottery tickets in the past? PAS knew that such actions taken before the by-election would be attacked by the MCA and the polling results might be affected. PAS might have panicked and expected that they could retrieve some votes by playing with religious issues. However, it has outsmarted itself and scared away some Chinese voters.

The DAP has been restrained itself before the polling day. And it did not strongly criticise the Kelantan state government this time. The DAP has always maintained the principles of secular polity, but it should no longer shield their mistakes to avoid losing its own credibility.

The 16 by-elections have roughly marked off the BN turf and the Pakatan Rakyat sphere of influence. Southern, eastern peninsula and the rural areas are still the bastions of the BN, while the northern peninsula and urban areas are the strongholds of the Pakatan Rakyat.

As Malaysia pursues the constituency system election, a seat will belong to the winner even if he gains only one-vote majority. Hence, the situation is very disadvantageous to the Pakatan Rakyat. Sarawak has 31 parliamentary seats, Johor 26, Sabah 25, Pahang 14, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan have eight each, and Malacca has six.

Their combined total of 118 is more than half of the total 222 parliamentary seats. As long as the BN can gain two-thirds of seats in these states in the next general election, it will then have 79 seats. Together with seats in other states, it is not hard for the BN to retain control of Putrajaya.

The Pakatan Rakyat is facing a major problem, namely when its internal contradictions continue, and its civil organisation forces have been eroded.

Would the Pakatan Rakyat still be able to face voters of various races as a team? Under the BN 1 Malaysia concept, how would the Pakatan Rakyat implement its multi-racial and multi-religious concept?

Three years after the 2008 political tsunami, the Pakatan Rakyat has now come to a crossroad.

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

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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

Azmin, get a grip - Anthony Ibong

Azmin should be mindful that SNAP had been established in Sarawak far longer than PKR, and in fact longer than the Malaysian federation itself. SNAP provided the first chief minister of the state. He should give it the due respect that it deserves as the party that is the traditional Dayak-based political organisation of Sarawak.

by Anthony anak Ibong via e-mail

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The PKR deputy president, Azmin Ali's remarks, reported on March 5th, directed to the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) are highly deplorable.

Who does Azmin think he is, to tell, to warn and to set conditions to SNAP? He appears to be intent on bullying SNAP.

On December 12 2010, he gave a fiery speech in Bintulu promising to give full autonomy to Sarawak were Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to gain power at the federal level. I am beginning to doubt if what he said that day Sarawak autonomy can be believed at all given his attitude to SNAP which is a pure Sarawakian party, unlike PKR.

Azmin should be mindful that SNAP had been established in Sarawak far longer than PKR, and in fact longer than the Malaysian federation itself. SNAP provided the first chief minister of the state. He should give it the due respect that it deserves as the party that is the traditional Dayak-based political organisation of Sarawak.

With the unresolved issues arising from the PKR party elections and high number defections of its elected representatives, Azmin should bear in mind that he is from the party that is commonly agreed to be the weakest link in the PR coalition. He ought to be more humble and circumspect before deciding to get on the high horse and start dictating what other political parties should or should not be doing and trying to impose terms.

PKR and PR should be thankful that SNAP is willing to be an ally in the impending state elections. It will be unwise for Azmin or anyone else for that matter to treat SNAP as a junior partner in this alliance.

Even Umno has been sensitive to local Sarawak sentiments and refrained from setting itself up in the state. For PKR to come in and start ordering and bossing SNAP around, that is something which will not go down well with the Sarawak electorate and may adversely impact PR's performance in the state elections. That is why I found Azmin's remarks so short-sighted and deplorable.

Apart from power-abuse and high level breaches of public trust, the other major and apparently intractable issues in the state are Dayak-based, such as the question of native customary rights over land. Between PKR and SNAP, surely the latter as a Sarawak-based organisation, is better placed to represent the people of the state in any sincere effort to resolve those issues.

It is best that the PR parties bear in mind that SNAP contested no fewer than 28 seats in the last state elections. To offer it just 3 seats to contest this time around is nothing but an insult to the aspirations of the people of Sarawak. All things considered, there is no compelling reason why SNAP should tie its fortune to PR if the PKR does not budge in the seat-allocations discussions.

As for Azmin, if he was not being hypocritical in his talk about Sarawak autonomy, he should be more receptive to and accepting of SNAP's desire to contest in the number of seats it feels it deserved and stop trying to boss the Sarawak party around.



ANTHONY ANAK IBONG