M’sia being left behind, warns Anwar

(AFP) MANILA: Malaysian Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim warned today his country was being left behind as a wave of democratisation sweeps the world.

 

Speaking at a forum during a visit to the Philippines, Anwar warned Kuala Lumpur against tampering with elections and said the “Arab Spring” proved that popular clamour for democracy could not be suppressed.

“The entire world, including the most conservative Muslim heartland, the Middle East has now transformed and is clamouring for change and reform. Why must Malaysia be lagging so far behind?” he asked.

“We are lagging far behind the Philippines and Indonesia in terms of building credible (democratic) institutions,” he said at a forum hosted by his friend, former Philippine president Joseph Estrada.

Anwar also fretted that the Malaysian economy was even starting to slip behind Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in areas like competitiveness.

Anwar said that unlike in Arab countries, he did not expect violence in Malaysia, but he said Malaysians now wanted more political freedoms and fair elections.

“We are not demanding the toppling of the regime. We want to use the ballot box but the ballot box must be clean,” he said.

Anwar said he did not want Malaysia’s leaders to suffer the same fate as former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, who has been put on trial by the new government, but warned that they could not ignore the people’s will.

Massive rally

He dismissed the high-profile sodomy case against him as “trumped-up charges” and assailed the government for violently cracking down on street protests.

On July 9 riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of protesters who were demanding electoral reform in Kuala Lumpur.

Police also arrested more than 1,600 people, while one demonstrator died. Anwar himself suffered a bruise on his head and a cut leg.