Najib, Anwar in secret talks
Malaysia and Internet abuzz over hour-long meeting at PM's residence
The hush-hush meeting has attracted a lot of attention in Malaysia because, while Mr Najib is the current premier, PR has made it clear that it wants to take over the federal government by the next election and install Mr Anwar as PM.
By Leslie Lopez,The Straits Times
A SECRET meeting between Prime Minister Najib Razak and his political nemesis, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, is likely to send shock waves through Umno and the opposition alliance.
The meeting some time last month has put Datuk Seri Najib in an awkward spot, as he will be under pressure from his party to explain why its president bothered to meet the man Umno despises as a traitor to the politically dominant Malay community.
But analysts say that there is also a downside for Datuk Seri Anwar because it will raise questions among his political allies in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition about his commitment to their opposition alliance.
'There are so many permutations to this meeting. But on paper, this meeting does benefit Anwar because there is recognition that he is the opposition leader and someone the government needs to deal with,' said a senior Umno leader, who asked not to be named.
The hush-hush meeting has attracted a lot of attention in Malaysia because, while Mr Najib is the current premier, PR has made it clear that it wants to take over the federal government by the next election and install Mr Anwar as PM.
Political sources from the Najib and Anwar camps have confirmed that the two politicians met at the prime minister's residence in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.
The sources remain vague about what transpired at the session, which lasted just over an hour. The meeting, they said, was initiated by Mr Najib.
Opposition MP Jeff Ooi 'tweeted' on online networking tool Twitter about the meeting, after reading a news report about it, wondering if the meeting was meant to 'foster BN-Opposition cooperation'.
If so, he said 'hawks within Umno didn't show it. Racism-stoking Umno mouthpieces didn't report it', though Mr Ooi did not rule out such an outcome to the pow-wow.
The Internet was abuzz over the meeting, with arguments over whether Mr Najib or Mr Anwar came out as the weaker-looking party by meeting his rival face to face.
