Anwar promising freedom of religion?

However, one of his most interesting answers was to a question on whether lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) could look forward to a non-discriminatory environment if Pakatan were to take Putrajaya, considering Islamist party PAS would be part of the federal government. Anwar was again careful in his answer, but seemed to indicate his coalition would be more tolerant of the marginalised community. 

Yahoo News

Is Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim promising Malaysia freedom of religion if his coalition takes over Putrajaya? The opposition leader seemed to indicate so during a live chat session with Yahoo! Malaysia readers.

The PKR advisor was asked – by a reader called ‘PK’, if he agreed with the decision made by a woman called Lina Joy a few years ago to convert from Islam to Christianity.

Anwar’s guarded answer was that while he did not encourage apostasy or the trivialisation of religion, faith and belief was not something which could be forced.

Aside from the Lina Joy question, Anwar was bombarded with all manner of questions during the one hour 20 minute session with Yahoo! users mainly from Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

Many questions were posed about his legal battles – both his sodomy and corruption trials of 1998 as well as his ongoing court case over fresh sodomy charges. He was also grilled on allegations that he is the man in a recently exposed sex video.

Asked why he hasn’t – like his accusers – taken an oath in a mosque to prove his innocence, Anwar replied that it was because such an oath was a matter of religious laws, not politics.

When a user using the moniker ‘Nik Abdul’ asked for his opinion regarding the alleged confirmation by police that South Korean and American experts had said that the face of the man in the sex video was similar to his, Anwar’s terse answer was:

“Typical example how smart guys like you can be duped by Umno media. Which expert? Why can’t they be transparent?” was his terse answer. 

‘Saggy breasts’

Anwar also hinted that he might know who the man in the sex video was.

“I have some suspects; big stomach and saggy breasts, ha ha,” he said, when asked if he knew the identity of the man in the video.

He was also asked why he is apparently seen as ‘dangerous’ by Umno and replied it was because of his commitment to reform and in combating corruption and cronyism.

Anwar brushed off concerns on whether Pakatan Rakyat has lost ground since its high water mark of 2008, calling such claims ‘mainstream media propaganda’.

“The reality on the ground is still promising. Example? the Sarawak elections,” he said during the chat session which took place at his party headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

However, one of his most interesting answers was to a question on whether lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) could look forward to a non-discriminatory environment if Pakatan were to take Putrajaya, considering Islamist party PAS would be part of the federal government.

Anwar was again careful in his answer, but seemed to indicate his coalition would be more tolerant of the marginalised community.

“We recognise the importance of family and the institution of marriage. But we should not unduly harass or discriminate others. The answer is through education and PAS accepts this view,” he said.

A reader named ‘Iwan’ then asked if Anwar thought Malaysians could accept a non-Muslim prime minister.

To this, Anwar only offered a non-committal answer of ‘respect the constitution and the wishes of the people’.

Abolishing tolls

However, the veteran politician pulled no punches when quizzed about Perkasa, his former mentor Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno.

“Insult to the intelligence of Malaysians with their racist tirade. It’s also an Umno ploy to create mischief and racial tension,” he said when asked about his stand on Perkasa. He added that only Umno and Perkasa seem desperate to use the race card.

On Mahathir, he described the former premier as a disciplined and hardworking man, but one who was unable to take criticism.

Touching on his Pakatan’s promises to the Malaysian people, Anwar said Pakatan would reduce the price of petrol, abolish highway tolls and make imported cars cheaper.

The chat session got a great response from Yahoo! users, with 26,000 over people taking part. Yahoo! Malaysia also ran polls while the session was going on, with interesting results.

When asked who they would vote for if elections were to be held tomorrow, 77% of users chose Pakatan, while only 17% opted for Barisan, with remaining 6% either being undecided or choosing to vote for ‘others’.

Well over half the respondents said dirty politics was the biggest problem in Malaysia, while almost 60% of the people said they’d like to speak to PAS spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat in a future Yahoo! Malaysia ‘Question Time’ session.

For the full chat history with Anwar hosted by Yahoo! Malaysia today, click here.