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PETALING JAYA, Aug 8 — A smiling Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dismissed the threat to his political career posed by the sodomy charge ahead of the Permatang Pauh by-election.
He affirmed that takeover plans were on track but refused to offer more details on potential crossovers. "Why did I mention Sept 16 in the first place? That's the reason they're hell-bent on attacking me. Yes, but I cannot state the numbers because the understanding is I will only announce names and numbers when they declare. It may be on Aug 27 or even before that, or a bit later," he replied to a question of whether Barisan Nasional MPs would move across once Anwar won the by-election. "The range is comfortable with the possibility of forming the government. I will say we will have adequate numbers." Polling is set for Aug 26 with nomination day just 10 days before. When quizzed about whether 20 days after the by-election is enough time to convince MPs to cross over, the amused prime-minister-in-waiting replied: "Okay, it may not happen if a calamity like an earthquake happens. Twenty days is enough. According to Winston Churchill, one week in politics is a long time. As you have seen, the past week has been a helluva long time for me. But I don't think I can convince Abdullah and Syed Hamid for now." While he acknowledged that Permatang Pauh, which he and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail have held since 1982, was a "reasonably good seat" for him, Anwar would not call it safe as he claimed BN would combine dirty tricks along with huge resources. "I am headed there tomorrow but all the hotels have already been booked by Puteri Umno and other wings. It's difficult to compete with rich towkay (tycoon) parties. BN is taking it seriously, particularly Umno, although I don't believe the other coalition members are that serious in the light of the political landscape. "I would be surprised if MCA, MIC and Gerakan will go gung-ho knowing the issue being played by Umno is purely one of Malay supremacy." The opposition Pakatan Rakyat figurehead also waved off the threat of a three-cornered fight. "There may be plants by Umno so as to cause a split in the votes but I don't think it will be effective. They have run independents as part of their game in the past, like in Lembah Pantai in the recent general election, but I don't think it will be of any consequence. Essentially it's a battle between PR and BN. "We have to acknowledge that we are dealing with a desperate leadership in Umno/BN. As you can see from the vicious campaign on the ground, it's not just character assassination but claims that I am a Chinese puppet. They say you cannot trust Anwar because he is not Malay. Maybe because I am married to Azizah who looks like a Chinese. "This is our new platform; if they say because of my criticism of abuse of the NEP by a few leaders enriching themselves with billions at the expense of poor Malays that it is an affront to Malays, I leave it to Malays to decide," he stated, calling the BN campaign a bigoted and racist one. Anwar also claimed that a statutory declaration by Hospital Pusrawi's Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid, which surfaced on the Internet yesterday, confirmed his innocence. The SD, purportedly signed by Dr Mohamed Osman, claims the doctor had been threatened by the police to change his medical report on Anwar's accuser. The Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader said that Dr Mohamed Osman's leaked medical report on accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan confirmed no sodomy was committed on Anwar's former male aide, and so absolved him from the allegations. Anwar was charged with sodomy in the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. He is out on bail while waiting for the court hearing on Sept 10. "It shatters lingering doubts of whether the alleged act ever took place. His (Dr Mohamed Osman) statement confirms what we have already stated as deplorable actions by police to fabricate evidence identical to my case in 1998. "I am distraught that the mainstream media did not focus or cover this and the Home Minister did not respond to this. This is a serious allegation of fabricated evidence signed under oath," he told a press conference at the PKR headquarters today. Anwar lambasted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar for behaving like they were the Attorney-General. "The prime minister says it is rape, it is very serious, that the police have evidence, and he should be charged. But he is not the A-G. "I acknowledge Syed Hamid repeatedly saying that Anwar is innocent until proven guilty but he should advise the PM on this elementary principle in law. But it is still not for him to decide who should or should not be charged. "Why torture me in the process, saying I am treated like a normal citizen. How many normal citizens are ambushed the way I was? It's a joke," he said. - The Malaysian Insider
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