Anwar asked to explain why he took Saiful on an overseas trip

Thestar.com.my

BUTTERWORTH: PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should explain why he took Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on an overseas trip if he claims that the latter is only a “pantry boy.”

Deputy Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail initially said Mohd Saiful was an aide, but later PKR strategist Saifuddin Nasution Ismail claimed that he was a “boy who makes coffee”.

“They say Mohd Saiful was not paid a fixed salary, and was merely a volunteer. But later in an interview with Malaysiakini, Anwar admitted taking Mohd Saiful on a trip abroad.

“This is what that puzzles me most. Who would take a coffee-making volunteer on a trip?” he said during an Umno Youth ceramah at Jalan Tenggiri, Seberang Jaya, on Wednesday night.

Malaysian opposition claims dirty tricks as three nabbed for graft

11 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Three members of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s party have been arrested for graft, triggering accusations of “dirty tricks” Thursday ahead of a tense by-election.

Anwar, who was sacked as deputy premier and jailed a decade ago, has accused the ruling coalition of trying to undermine his chances of returning to parliament in an August 26 ballot in his home state of Penang.

Anti-corruption officials on Wednesday detained two members of the state cabinet in northern Perak which is run by Anwar’s opposition alliance, as well as another official in his Keadilan party.

They were among a group of six people accused of taking bribes of more than 120,000 ringgit (36,000 dollars) from a businessman to expedite a local housing project, the New Straits Times reported.

“None of them resisted when the team barged into the hotel room,” state anti-corruption chief Samsiah Abu Bakar told the daily after the raid. “We also found 100,000 ringgit in a bag belonging to one of the suspects,” she added. [more]

21-08-2008: Anwar threatens to ‘open can of worms’

Theedgedaily.com

by Regina William

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Don’t push your luck with me or I will open your can of worms! This was the threat issued by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak following allegations which resurfaced here against him.

The latest was that of him ogling at the wife of Larut member of parliament (MP) and Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Hamzah Zainuddin a decade ago.

At a gathering in Permatang Pauh on Tuesday night, Hamzah repeated the allegations which first also surfaced in 1998.

“I am being very patient all this time, but I would like to warn them not to push me beyond the limit. If I open my mouth on personal matters, Najib will be kept busy answering them for a very long time. I have refrained from doing so, as this is not a personal battle but about the political future of the country.

“Remember, I too was in the government and I was privy to a lot of information. Najib knows what I know and he knows what I am talking about. Don’t push me to respond or he will regret it,” Anwar said. [more]

Muhy slams Anwar for seeking sympathy

Daily Express News

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is disappointed with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s penchant for seeking sympathy from foreign countries to the extent of them viewing Malaysia negatively now.

He said foreign interference in Malaysia’s sovereignty was dangerous to the people and nation.

Muhyiddin, who is also International Trade and Industry Minister, said he regarded Anwar’s action in seeking foreign support as compromising the country’s honour and dignity.

“The Barisan Nasional (BN) does not allow foreign powers to interfere in the country’s internal affairs,” he said when meeting BN’s Permatang Pauh by-election machinery at the BN operations room in Jalan Baru, near here, Wednesday.  [more]

Malaysia arrests 2 from Anwar Ibrahim’s party for graft

International Herald Tribune

The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia’s anti-corruption watchdog arrested two state lawmakers from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s party for alleged bribery Wednesday, complicating Anwar’s bid to re-enter Parliament.

Opposition groups voiced concerns that the arrests were meant to undermine public support for Anwar ahead of next week’s parliamentary by-election. Anwar has persistently accused Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration of rampant corruption and has pledged to seize power by mid-September.

The government’s Anti-Corruption Agency said it detained two legislators and four other suspects in northern Perak state for alleged crimes in connection to a 180 million ringgit (US$56 million) housing project and a sex case.

One of the legislators was “caught shortly after receiving a bribe of over 123,400 ringgit (US$38,500) to speed up the processing of a housing project,” the agency said in a statement. It did not elaborate on the alleged sex case.

An agency official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements, said the legislators were from Anwar’s People’s Justice Party, but he denied the crackdown was politically motivated.

The arrests could be a potential embarrassment for Anwar, who is already fighting a sodomy charge that he claims was concocted by the government to tarnish his reputation. The government has denied the allegations. [more]

Penang ulama: Anwar need not swear on Quran

By ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD, thestar.com.my

BUTTERWORTH: Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim need not swear in the name of Allah as the Syariah Court is the best place for him to prove his innocence.

The Penang branch of the National Ulama Association’s chairman Dr Wan Salim Wan Mohd Nor said the basic principles of Islamic law should be followed by producing four witnesses to testify in Anwar’s sodomy allegations.

“If the accuser fails to bring four witnesses as required by the hudud law, then the case should be dropped,” he told a press conference Tuesday at the Sunway Business Centre in Seberang Jaya, here.

Dr Wan Salim said if under certain circumstances the four witnesses could not be produced in the Syariah Court, the prosecutor could use DNA evidence to prove the case but such evidence was not solid.

19-08-2008: Anwar questions Ezam’s intentions

by Pauline Puah, theedgedaily.com

SEBERANG PRAI: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim questioned his former aide Ezam Mohd Noor’s intention in claiming that Anwar had been keeping the six boxes of government documents allegedly related to corrupt practices of high-ranking government officers and ministers.

“After saying 10 years ago that he was in possession (of the documents), now during the Permatang Pauh by-election he said he has surrendered them to me. Do you take him seriously?” Anwar said during a visit to Seberang Jaya market yesterday.

Ezam, the former PKR Youth chief who has rejoined Umno, said at a ceramah on Saturday night that he had passed the documents to Anwar and challenged his former boss to make public the documents.

On another claim by Ezam that Anwar had handed out projects worth RM1 billion each to 15 bumiputera companies when he was deputy premier and finance minister, Anwar said Ezam should identify the beneficiaries of the projects and report the matter to relevant authorities.

“He is desperate to get the attention of Umno leaders, so I am not going to entertain him,” Anwar said
[more]

16-08-2008: Dr Mansor was the `insurance’

Theedgedaily.com

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Former state Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chief Dr Mansor Othman was the “insurance” in case Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was disqualified from contesting the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-elections.

Dr Mansor arrived at the nomination centre in Tuanku Bainun Teaching Institute about 9.30am and submitted his nomination papers to the returning officer Roslan Yahaya. He however withdrew after the objection period ended at 11am.

According to PKR officials, Dr Mansor’s nomination was an “insurance” in case Anwar’s papers were rejected.

Dr Mansor, has been with Keadilan through thick and thin. He is a supreme council member of Keadilan and the party’s deputy chairman of operations for the March 8 general elections where the opposition made significant inroads. [more]

Malaysian Minister Advises Foreign Investors Not To Believe Claims By Anwar

By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Aug 12 (Bernama) – Foreign businessmen who are contemplating to invest in Malaysia have been advised not to believe claims by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that he would take over the Malaysian Government in September.

“Don’t believe it,” Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told Singaporean businessmen at a trade dialogue here Tuesday.

He said he did not see the possibility of that happening, more so as Anwar kept moving the date on when he would take over the Barisan Nasional (BN)-controlled federal government, from August to September or October and so on.

Muhyiddin said the biggest question was how Anwar could become the prime minister when none of the BN parliament members whom he claimed would cross over to join him since the last general election on March 8 had not done so.

The dialogue was held in conjunction with a one-day seminar on business opportunities in Malaysia which was jointly organised by the trade agencies of Malaysia and Singapore, and declared open by Muhyiddin.

The minister said the current political situation in Malaysia was created by just Anwar alone, who had been telling stories that he could take over the government by this September.

Muhyiddin, who is also UMNO vice-president, said Malaysian voters had made their choice in the last general election by voting in the BN party to the federal government.

CHANDRA MUZAFFAR: Anwar’s attempt to become PM ‘undemocratic’

KUALA LUMPUR, FRI:

Political scientist Dr Chandra Muzaffar said that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s attempt to become the prime minister through the “back door” by instigating massive crossovers is both unethical and undemocratic.

“A Cabinet established through such an avenue will lack moral credibility.

Parliament itself will be tarnished. Both the Executive and the Legislature — two vital arms of governance — will be perceived by the people as institutions that are bereft of integrity,” he said.

In a nutshell, acquiring power through the back door would demean and denigrate politics, he said, adding that Anwar also had no mandate to oust the democratically-elected government of the day. Anwar, he claimed, was consumed by a single-minded obsession to become the country’s prime minister in the shortest possible time.

Hence his concerted endeavour to persuade Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmakers in Parliament — at least 30 of them — to cross over to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) immediately, the former PKR deputy president said. [more]

Question from freeanwar.org: Is Anwar’s attempt really ‘undemocratic” or is he trying to do the right thing for the future of Malaysia given the dire economic and ethical climate faced by the nation?

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