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The former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar
Ibrahim, is a dear friend to many Filipinos. He is a Rizalian
scholar. Like similar Rizalian Malays, including the founders of the
Indonesian Republic, he believes that Rizal is a model Malay and a
pride of the Malay race.
He was here in Metro Manila last
month. He addressed a colloquium on “Islam, Politics and the
Prospects for Peace” sponsored by the De La Salle Graduate School
and the Asian Institute for Democracy, received the request of the
Mindanao Peaceweavers to help persuade the Malaysian government to
reconsider its decision to pull out its International Monitoring
Team contingent in Mindanao, attended a private dinner hosted by
former President Joseph Estrada that also had President Cory Aquino
as a guest and met with other leading Filipinos.
After he returned to Kuala Lumpur
he was charged, once again, by government prosecutors with sodomy.
He was also charged with sodomy
and corruption 10 years ago. Convicted, he had been in prison for
six years when he won back his freedom after Malaysia’s High Court
found the charges without merit.
The Malaysian police and
prosecutors had apparently been driven to fabricate the charges
against Anwar Ibrahim by the powers who controlled Malaysia then. He
was then the deputy prime minister. He was being lauded by all as
the best among the Cabinet members and deputy ministers. He was then
Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Muhammad’s heir apparent as head of
government and of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO),
the leading party of the ruling multi-racial coalition Barisan
Nasional (BN).
Analysts have given various
reasons for Mahathir’s loss of affection for Anwar Ibrahim.
Whatever the real reason, Mahathir sacked Anwar and the
government’s prosecutors and the police arrested him, beat him up
because he would not falsely admit his guilt, took him to court
which—on the strength of perjuries committed by intimidated and
suborned witnesses—found guilty and sent to prison where he got
beatings as well.
After the Federal Court
(Malaysia’s highest court) ordered Anwar’s release he could not
run for any office until April 2008. But all the while that he was
in prison, his wife, had organized the Parti Keadilan Rakyat
(People’s Justice Party) which slowly developed a following, won
some seats in by-elections, despite efforts of UMNO and its
coalition allies to discredit it, Anwar and his wife, Wan Azizah Wan
Ismail. The whole world has always known that Anwar would reclaim
his lost position as a frontrunner for the prime ministership.
In the March 2008 elections, the
opposition coalition led by Keadilan won in five of the Malaysian
Federation’s 13 states. The Barisan Nasional led by UMNO secured
only a simple majority in parliament. It was clear that, seeing the
Keadilan-led coalition’s popularity, Anwar Ibrahim would manage to
have the majority in parliament in the next election.
New sodomy charges
Then on weekend of June 29, text
messages and other means informed Anwar and his wife, Wan Azizah Wan
Ismail, that an aide who had for a few months been a volunteer work
for them and Parti Keadilan had filed a police report claiming that
he had been sodomized by Anwar. The reports said Anwar would be
arrested.
On June 30, Anwar took refuge in
the Turkish Embassy because he had also been getting reports that
there was a plan to assassinate him. He only came out of hiding in
the embassy after the Malaysian government made a public undertaking
that it was guaranteeing his safety.
On Tuesday night, July 1, Anwar
vowed to win power from the “corrupt” Malaysian government at a
rally attended by 15,000 supporters.
He has filed charges against his
accuser and he calls the new sodomy charges fabrications meant by
the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) to arrest his
opposition coalition’s advance.
It is time to boot out the
Barisan Nasional, he said in a fiery speech. BN has governed
Malaysia for a half a century since Malaysia got its independence
from Britain.
Agence France-Presse reports that
he said: “The BN government cannot be trusted to manage the
economy of this country because there is too much corruption,” and
the crowd shouted the opposition battlecry “Reformasi”
(“Reform”).
This new effort to use fabricated
sodomy charges against Anwar Ibrahim is likely to backfire on
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, the UMNO and other members
of the Barisan Nasional.
As in the Philippines, politics
causes the strangest things to happen. Until their relationship
soured. Anwar was then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad’s
political “son.” Badawi benefited when Mahathir fired Anwar from
his deputy prime minister position and when Anwar was prosecuted and
persecuted by the police.
These past years, Mahathir has
been criticizing Badawi’s rule and Badawi has reitaliated by
having Mahathir’s alleged corrupt appointment of judges
investigated. Mahathir has resigned from the UMNO, has campaigned
for Badawi’s resignation and vowed not to go back to his own party
until Badawi is out.
Could Mahathir suddenly find
himself reconciling with his protégé and former “son.” Would
Anwar welcome a reconciliation with former “father”?
Even without Mahathir’s help
the People’s Justice Party (Keadilan) coalition could win
easily—given the people’s outrage against high food and fuel
prices for which they blame the Barisan Nasional.
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