Oust BN for Anwar’s sake, says Ariff Sabri
The Raub MP calls on opposition supporters to begin by ensuring a win in Permatang Pauh.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Raub MP Ariff Sabri believes that the government will be adamant on keeping Anwar Ibrahim in jail even if one million Malaysians sign a petition for his release and even if world leaders intervene.
“I believe the government will not budge,” he says in his latest blog posting. “They will say this has been the outcome of a lengthy legal process.”
He also speculates that Anwar will not ask for a royal pardon. “Anwar Ibrahim will never entertain such an idea, I think. Asking for a pardon would amount to admitting that the crime for which he was accused and now sentenced did take place.”
Ariff believes that it is more important for Anwar to “affirm and fortify” his innocence.
However, he acknowledges that he can’t be certain whether Anwar and his family think the way he does. It may be more important for them to secure his personal freedom, he says.
Commenting on the judgment on Anwar’s sodomy case read out at the Federal Court last Tuesday, Ariff says, “It sounded like a prosecution monologue.”
Ariff says he shares the grief felt by Anwar and his family, but he seems resigned to accepting that Anwar will remain in jail unless the current ruling regime is overthrown.
“I think we have no more legal recourse,” he says. “We must do it the political way. Maybe Najib can be thrown out earlier.
“We kick out Najib and his gang. They will then know that life as they have known before, consisting of private parties and soirees, gallivanting on private and government owned jets, thriving on governmental dishonesty and incompetence, will come to an end.”
He says the process of overthrowing Najib’s regime should begin with the upcoming Permatang Pauh by-election and climax at the next general election.
“Once we have power, we can do so many good things,” he writes. “We want to fight corruption, we can do something. We want to reform the judiciary? We can do that. We want to allow cooperatives and village economic outfits to issue bonds? We can do that too. Why not? If the government can guarantee one RM1 million paid-up-capital company to issue bonds 40,000 times over, we can do the same with farmers’ co-ops and village economic co-ops.
“Elect a new government. We will enforce the law on troublesome NGOs, be they formed by Malays or non-Malays. Tangkap semua in accordance with the law.”
