Anifah’s comments backfire, Anwar to sue
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
In the doghouse after a near disastrous first outing into the international arena, Malaysia’s newly minted foreign affairs minister Anifah Aman is trying his best to put on a bold face as he fends off a barrage of criticism both from within and outside his Umno-BN party.
He has refused to apologise to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, saying he would rather take his chances in court over comments he made in Washington last week that Anwar had offered him the post of “like a deputy prime minister” to secure his defection to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
“Oh yes, I have no problem with that, as the foreign minister I have better things to do, Anwar is the least of my concern,” said Anifah.
Anwar, who issued an immediate denial, is expected to proceed to sue. His lawyers have already asked Anifah to retract and apologise within 24 hours (due Sunday) or face a defamation suit.
Said the reform icon’s lawyer Sankara Nair: “At no time were any such offers made to Anifah by Anwar. The allegations made in the said story are baseless, untrue, defamatory and made with malicious intent to tarnish Anwar’s reputation.
“We have instructions to file a defamation suit against Anifah if he does not retract and make an apology within 24 hours.”
Washington puts on record Anwar’s sodomy charges are politically motivated
Meanwhile, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have slammed Anifah’s comments and questioned his suitability for the high-profile international post.
He made the remarks at a joint press conference with US State Secretary Hillary Clinton, who had said in no uncertain terms that Washington stood on record that the sodomy charges brought against Anwar by the Umno-BN government were politically motivated.
She also revealed that the US had “raised rule of law issues and the larger questions concerning the institutional reforms that Malaysia has been pursuing” during an earlier closed-door session with Anifah.
Feeling the heat, Anifah not only attacked Anwar, he also dragged into the picture Prime Minister Najib Razak and his alleged mistress, the murdered “Mongolian citizen” Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Additionally, he drew international attention to the ongoing political crisis in Perak by defending the scandalous role played by some of the judiciary, who tried to support Najib’s refusal to hold fresh election in the state.
Northwestern Perak is wracked by political turmoil following a botched power grab by the prime minister, who has refused to allow the people of the state to exercise their democratic rights and choose the leaders that they want.
“It was an ill-advised attempt to undermine Anwar’s role in Pakatan and also aims to create suspicion between him, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang and PAS’s Hadi Awang, especially as the PAS election approaches. But as always with bad intentions, the gun backfired!,” said Tian Chua, PKR strategic affairs director.
