Give me your best shot

Note that Malaysia needs a strong two-party system. We also need a strong opposition to maintain checks and balances. If not then we would end up with a dictatorship. While I would admit that Anwar Ibrahim makes a good opposition leader who can keep Barisan Nasional on its toes, it does not necessarily mean that a good opposition leader can also makes a good Prime Minister.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Ibrahim Yaacob is attempting some form a damage control but has made a miserable job of it.

First of all, Wikileaks called me to ask how they could get in touch with Anwar Ibrahim. I then contacted Nurul Izzah to ask her the same question and she gave me her dad’s contact number, which I transmitted to Wikileaks.

Nurul can probably confirm this herself.

Wikileaks then scheduled my interview with Julian Assange for the beginning of March. I contacted the gang in Friends of Pakatan Rakyat UK in London to inform them that I was coming down to London for this interview and that we could probably meet up.

Ben and Brian can both confirm this, as can Rosalind whom I called to check whether her home was free to host the dinner we were planning for Ben’s birthday.

Wikileaks then called to say that they needed to postpone the interview to Saturday 17th March because Julian had other matters to attend to. I agreed to shift it to the 17th and informed Ben and Brian that our get-together would have to be on Sunday 18th March instead.

Wikileaks then called to ask whether I had any problems if they also invited Anwar to participate in the interview. I asked them whether Anwar was coming up to the UK and they said no but he would be joining us on Skype. They wanted to ask me first because they knew that I have had a falling out with Anwar.

I told them that I had no objections.

They then called me and told me that they had contacted Anwar and he does not agree to share the same stage with me. Wikileaks then said they can continue the interview with me without Anwar and then do Anwar another day or they can do Anwar first and a separate interview with me at the end of March or early April.

I asked them what they would prefer and they told me that it is so difficult to reach Anwar whereas I am in the UK and can be reached any time so they would prefer to do Anwar first and me around two weeks or so later, to which I agreed.

Hence, what Ibrahim Yaacob said in his press statement below is a pack of lies and is very telling regarding the so-called transparency and openness that Anwar Ibrahim always talks about.

While we are on this subject, some people have raised the issue of me having dinner with an Umno Blogger who goes by the name of ‘Big Dog’. Actually, that was the evening that the Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim, gave a talk in London. After that talk, Friends of Pakatan Rakyat were supposed to host the MB and his political secretary, Faekah Husin, to dinner in Khan’s.

However, I was told that Faekah had informed Friends of Pakatan Rakyat UK that they would rather I not also be invited to the dinner. Anyway, I was already in London and since my Wikileaks interview was now off and I am not invited to the dinner with the Selangor MB’s entourage, I had five days to spare with nothing to do. Hence, when Big Dog called up to invite me for dinner I accepted his invitation. Hell, I not only accepted his invitation but I even paid for the dinner so that he understood very well that I accept no handouts from Umno (to be fair, though, he gave my wife three cartons of Malboro Light).

I would like to suggest that those in Anwar’s office focus on more important issues like making sure that Pakatan Rakyat gets to retain Selangor in the next general election, which to most of us is more crucial and what the fight should be all about. We have seen what 50 years of Umno rule has done to Selangor and it would be a shame to see the state fall back into the hands of Umno.

However, I fear that the Selangor voters may not want to risk a second term under Pakatan Rakyat and we may end up with a one-term government like what happened in Terengganu in 2004.

Note that the ‘selling points’ to convince the voters to vote Pakatan Rakyat are that the opposition is absolutely clean, transparent, honest, open, accountable, and practices good governance and so on. These are the selling points as to why the voters should vote Pakatan Rakyat rather than Barisan Nasional. It is very crucial, therefore, that we are able to walk the talk because if we fail to impress the voters that we are living up to those selling points then there would no longer be any reason to vote Pakatan Rakyat.

Note that Malaysia needs a strong two-party system. We also need a strong opposition to maintain checks and balances. If not then we would end up with a dictatorship. While I would admit that Anwar Ibrahim makes a good opposition leader who can keep Barisan Nasional on its toes, it does not necessarily mean that a good opposition leader can also makes a good Prime Minister.

And this is my beef. I want Anwar to continue to play the role of a good opposition leader, just like Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, etc., have been doing for many decades, and quite successfully at that too. So maybe if Anwar can plant in his head that we want him as our opposition leader to keep the corrupt and evil government in check then we may see him perform better than he is doing now. The trouble is Anwar imagines himself as the rightful and legitimate Prime Minister who has been illegally denied the throne. And because of that he is failing to perform his duties as opposition leader and is instead strutting around like the Crown Prince.

Isu Wikileaks: Penjelasan Dari Pejabat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim

Pertamanya kami mahu menjelaskan bahawa permohonan yang diajukan oleh Wikileaks kepada Pejabat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim adalah satu wawancara antara Julian Assange dengan Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Kemudiannya barulah pihak kami diberitahu Raja Petra mahu menumpang dalam wawancara tersebut. Makanya Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim menegaskan bahawa beliau hanya menyatakan persetujuan untuk permintaan yang asal iaitu wawancara antara beliau dengan Julian Assange. Oleh itu Quick Roll Productions, pihak produksi yang terlibat dengan wawancara ini telah membuat keputusan editorial untuk meneruskan format wawancara antara Julian Assange dengan Anwar Ibrahim tanpa melibatkan penumpang lainnya. Keputusan editorial tersebut semata-mata dibuat oleh Quick Roll Productions dan tidak dipaksakan oleh Pejabat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim ke atas mereka.

Keduanya, kami merasa terpanggil apabila Dato’ Seri Najib Razak menggunakan isu ini sebagai pelantar untuk mentohmah Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim kononnya takut berdebat dengan Raja Petra. Kami kesal kerana Dato’ Seri Najib Razak bercakap tidak berdasarkan fakta yang sebenar kerana tidak timbul soal debat sedangkan yang dipersetujui antara Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim dengan Julian Assange adalah wawancara satu sama satu. Akan tetapi oleh kerana YAB Perdana Menteri beriya-iya bercakap soal debat, kami berpendirian adalah sangat baik untuk rakyat dan negara ini sekiranya Dato’ Seri Najib Razak bersetuju untuk berdebat dengan YB Ketua Pembangkang, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Perdebatan antara YB Ketua Pembangkang dengan YAB Perdana Menteri berkaitan isu nasional pastinya memberi manfaat yang banyak kepada rakyat dan negara Malaysia. Justeru keengganan Dato’ Seri Najib Razak untuk berdebat dengan Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim memunculkan tanda tanya di kalangan rakyat terbanyak, sama ada YAB Perdana Menteri takut ataupun tidak punya komitmen untuk menyuburkan amalan Demokrasi di negara ini.

Ibrahim Yaacob
Ketua Staf
Pejabat Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim