MCLM sees itself a father figure to Opposition parties
Fledgling group Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) justified its criticisms of Opposition parties and its leaders, saying today it was only hoping to see them improve and did not wish to discredit them.
MCLM president Haris Ibrahim stressed they wanted to see Opposition parties improve in the future when commenting on the outrage over the organisation chairman Raja Petra Kamarudin’s criticism of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that was broadcast by the pro-government TV3 television station.
“We do this almost like how a father would chastise a child whom he loves because you see something wrong and you set it right.
“If you go through this entire video clip, you will not find once where Raja Petra says Anwar has lost complete credibility. He was critical over efforts by the Opposition to form a shadow Cabinet, as he has said several times before in his blog,” Haris told reporters at the organisation’s headquarters here.
The MCLM was formed last October in London.
Haris said although he has been critical of the Opposition as well, he flew to Kuching on Wednesday to lend a hand to Opposition parties in their bid to bring about change in Sarawak.
“We criticise the Opposition because we hope to see improvements. We no longer criticise BN because we take the view BN is beyond change and beyond redemption. Until we kick BN out, this country is going to continue to languish in the state of disrepair that it is in now.
“So what the mainstream media, what TV3 has done here is to distort a message Raja Petra had sent out. A message he has been writing for a long, long time. The Opposition needs to improve. They have spun it and as you can see from The Star, Anwar has lost his credibility,” he said.
In an article published earlier today, the English daily said that Raja Petra had claimed Anwar lost his credibility as Opposition leader when he failed to fulfil the promise that the Opposition pact would form a government on September 16, 2008.
“Raja Petra, who said Anwar was once his close friend, added that he too was deceived by the PKR adviser’s false promises when he (Raja Petra) was detained under the Internal Security Act,” according to the article.
He also mentioned that after the interview, in March, Raja Petra had invited Nurul Izzah Anwar, Anwar’s daughter and PKR vice-president, on a tour of Australia to bring about issues such as the injustice in Anwar’s sodomy trial and a potentially fraudulent Sarawak elections, dispelling any suggestions that Raja Petra thinks Anwar has lost his credibility.
In addition, Haris said that MCLM agrees with Anwar’s comment on reports that Datuk Seri Najib Razak was thankful that the “truth had been revealed” about allegations linking both him and his wife to the Altantuya murder case.
The Malaysian Insider reported earlier today from Kuching that Anwar insisted that the recent revelations made by Raja Petra do not vindicate Datuk Seri Najib Razak of his involvement in the Altantuya Shaaribuu murder.
“Let me say today, unequivocally, MCLM aligns itself with the statement by Datuk Seri Anwar. You are far from cleared in the matter of the death of Altantunya. You still carry the baggage of her death,” he said.
The prime minister had also said that he considered the controversial matter “closed”, and that it is only “an issue in the realm of the court of public opinion”.
“The public has lost faith in our judiciary. Razak Baginda was acquitted. Prosecuters said they would appeal. They had 14 days to appeal, but on the last day, he then announced they had done a U-turn, no appeal. The two who have been convicted, many members of the public think they are scapegoats.
“The truth is this, it may be closed in the prime minister’s mind, but it is not closed in the court of public opinion and that is the most important, most relevant court. So, until these issues are resolved, until these burning questions are answered, it is not closed for many of us. The decisions in the courts in the murder trial leave us anything but satisfied that justice has been done,” Haris said.
