New scandal as Anwar bars Raja Petra from Wikileaks Forum
THE CHOICE
De facto Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim found himself embroiled in a new scandal on Friday as blogger Raja Petra revealed that the Pakatan leader has successfully managed to bar him from a global forum.
Fresh out of this five-star PR festival in Dubai, where he once again badmouthed our country by likening it to an oppressive state, he has now seemingly become oppressive himself.
Anwar is expected to appear Saturday via Skype in a global political forum, together with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Invited too for the discussion, which will be taped for a Wikileaks documentary, was former Anwar ally Raja Petra Kamarudin, also known as RPK.
However, our Opposition leader, who so valiantly defends freedom of expression, has barred Raja Petra from participating, perhaps fearful of any uncomfortable questioning by the blogger.
Let’s not forget, this is the man, who just a few days ago unveiled corruption allegations by PKR to the tune of $10 million (RM 30 million) and who, back in January, said that Anwar is morally unfit to become prime minister and will become irrelevant if Pakatan fails to win GE13.
In fact, RPK even said that Anwar was guilty in the Sodomy 2 trial, a “victim of a honey trap.” He also heavily criticised Anwar’s many trips abroad, telling him “to stay in the country and do your job in Pakatan.” Evidently, Anwar didn’t heed the advice.
“I got a call from Wikileaks that Anwar does not agree that I be included,” RPK told website Free Malaysia Today. “I agreed to Anwar being included but he did not agree for me to be there.”
RPK continued to needle Anwar, wondering how he could imagine debating Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak “when he is too chicken to face me.”
He further insinuated that Anwar is a coward, as “he will only deal with people who support him and agree with him.”
This has been, of course, the modus operandi for Anwar for a long time. He has been grooming friendly journalists for many years and carefully sidesteps potentially critical voices.
But as we all know, even with the friendly press he got himself into trouble, such as when he opined about defending Israel and liberalising the sodomy laws with the Wall Street Journal and BBC.
Facing RPK could result in further awkward moments, so Anwar nixed his participation.
