No BN witch-hunt if Pakatan takes Putrajaya, leaders say

(Malay Mail Online) – Pakatan Rakyat (PR) does not plan on hunting down corrupt Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians should the pact come to power, several leaders pledged, saying they were more concerned with governing justly instead of jailing their foes.

Citing the case of jailed PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP MP Liew Chin Tong (pic) said PR believes no individual deserves to be treated the same way.

“I don’t think Pakatan should be in the business of a witch-hunt. It should be governing democratically and justly.

“There should not be a case like the way Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is treated under any new government,” he told Malay Mail Online.

Anwar has been jailed twice for sodomy — the first time in 1998 under the Mahathir administration and the second on February 10 this year. The opposition leader and his allies have repeatedly maintained that both charges were politically motivated.

Liew was responding to former minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin’s claim on Monday that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s recent criticisms against the Najib administration was because the former prime minister feared being hunted down by PR should BN lose Putrajaya.

In a blog post, the Umno man said Dr Mahathir believes that if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak refuses to resign now, his weak leadership could lead to PR toppling BN from its Putrajaya perch.

PKR’s Chua Tian Chang agreed with Liew, saying PR has no plan to punish its political rivals even if it wins federal power.

“This is not a political witch-hunt. What might happen is there will be independent agencies, they will be the ones that conduct investigations for corruption independently,” he said.

The Batu MP added that whatever Zainuddin and Dr Mahathir said have “reaffirmed the fact that we need a change of government with strong independent agencies”.

PAS’s Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said, however, that BN leaders should not fear being jailed if they have not committed any wrongdoing.

“When PR takes over, we focus on the people’s welfare… we are not focusing on hunting them down and finding fault.

“Leaders do not have to worry if they have done nothing wrong,” Tuan Ibrahim added.