Pro-Pakatan websites are turning on Mahathir
This narrative fits in to Anwar’s statement that the whole thing is a conspiracy to block him from taking over as Malaysia’s eighth prime minister or PM8 on or before May 2020. In fact, yesterday Mahathir said in an interview that he may or may not hand over power after November (not May) next year and it may or may not be Anwar who takes over.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
A number of pro-Pakatan Harapan (or anti-Umno-Barisan Nasional) websites seem to have turned on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. One such website, Finance Twitter, in an article titled “The premier’s reputation and integrity are being questioned” said:
“Clearly, it would make Mahathir looks incredibly dumb if the same sodomy scripts were to be re-used again. Therefore, the police say that the latest case against Anwar (Ibrahim) is about the outrage of modesty, and not sodomy, as no sexual penetration has been claimed. The young (Muhammed) Yusoff (Rawther) would have a lot of explaining to do if he claims sodomy. A sexual assault allegation is much easier.
However, the police have not decided whether to subject both the accuser and the defender to polygraph tests. Will it be fair to subject Anwar only for the test and not Yusoff? What if both fail (or pass) the tests? More importantly, what if Anwar fails the test but has a strong alibi? After all, polygraph tests are not necessarily an accurate lie detector.
Even pro-Mahathir Sarawak Report has turned and is now whacking Azmin Ali
If indeed Anwar did sexually assault the young man, then the PKR president should be punished according to the rule of law. Likewise, if Yusoff had made a false allegation against the PM-in-waiting, he, too, should be sent to jail. However, the public perception is such that the police cannot be trusted to do their jobs professionally without fear or favour.
Not only people don’t believe the impartiality of the police force, they also don’t believe Prime Minister Mahathir had nothing to do with the latest allegation against Anwar. And who could blame the public for increasingly distrust the 94-year-old man who openly treats Azmin Ali and Anwar Ibrahim differently over a same problem – sex scandal.
When Azmin Ali, the blue-eyed boy of PM Mahathir, was implicated as the man in an explosive gay sex video in June, the premier quickly came to the defence of the Economic Affairs Minister. He unilaterally declared Azmin’s innocence and conveniently claimed the video clip was fake – even “before” the police could start the investigation and authenticate the video.
IGP Hamid Bador’s job is to keep Mahathir in power till the PM is ready to retire
But when it’s Anwar Ibrahim’s turn to be accused (for the third time), the same Mahathir kept his silence and had never once defended the future prime minister. It screams double standard and bias that Mahathir was so eager to protect a man caught having pleasure with another man but couldn’t care less about another man accused of sexual assault.
The worst part was when the Inspector General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador, a loyalist of the premier, had joined the bandwagon in insulting the peoples’ intelligence – declaring that the identities of the two men in the gay sex video clips cannot be determined, despite the public’s confidence that one of them was Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali.
The suspicion has now grown stronger that Mahathir was the hidden hand behind the sexual assault drama. The prime minister’s lawyer, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, has emerged as Yusoff Rawther’s attorney against Anwar Ibrahim. Of course, the lawyer argued that the simple fact that he appeared for his client makes it crystal clear that Mahathir cannot be the man behind the evil plot.
Perhaps the lawyer thought people were too dumb to realise there’s something called “reverse psychology”. Interestingly, Rural Development Minister Rina Mohd Harun, the Women’s Chief of Mahathir’s party (PPBM or Bersatu), appointed the lawyer as the new chairman of the Penang Regional Development Authority (Perda) in January this year.
You don’t need a rocket scientist to find out why PM Mahathir approved the appointment of his own lawyer to head a powerful agency like Perda. And it’s quite troubling that the police didn’t raise (or deliberately refused to raise) the idea of using polygraph tests when Muhammad Haziq Abdul Aziz admitted being one of the men in the sex video clip plaguing Azmin Ali.
Why did the police question and grill Anwar Ibrahim, but not Azmin Ali? Has homosexual been declared legal, natural and legitimate activities under the Mahathir administration? Perhaps Mahathir should clarify why in a Muslim country like Malaysia; homosexual acts appear to be less damaging than sexual assault. The premier’s reputation and integrity are being questioned.”
This narrative fits in to Anwar’s statement that the whole thing is a conspiracy to block him from taking over as Malaysia’s eighth prime minister or PM8 on or before May 2020. In fact, yesterday Mahathir said in an interview in Doha that he may or may not hand over power after November (not May) next year and it may or may not be Anwar who takes over.
Mahathir’s interview in Doha
According to Mahathir’s people, this latest attempted rape allegation is not the end. They have two more sodomy cases (Sodomy 4 and Sodomy 5) lined up. The statutory declarations and video-recorded statements of the victims are ready and are just waiting to be released.
This does not augur well for Anwar who is supposed to take over as prime minister within just another six months or so. According to those in Anwar’s team, the prime minister-in waiting is becoming very desperate. He has “missed the boat” so many times over the last 21 years and it looks like, yet again, Anwar may miss the boat if Mahathir has it his way.
At this stage Anwar’s only hope is for divine intervention. Anwar’s people are hoping that Mahathir’s health will not hold up and that before May next year God may remove Mahathir from the scene. However, while some question Mahathir’s mental capacity, they admit that physically Mahathir appears good for another couple of years.
No one is running Malaysia while the power struggle takes centerstage
Meanwhile, while the country is bogged down and focused on sodomy, semburit and the succession issue, no one is running Malaysia and the people are suffering. Foreign money is leaving the country while local investors are moving their money overseas. Malaysians are finding it very difficult to make ends meet in the so-called “Malaysia Baru” and they are reminiscing about “the good old days” of Barisan Nasional.
Yes, when people start looking back and start comparing Najib Tun Razak to the present Prime Minister and declare that Najib is far better, then you know things must be very bad. There are even people who say that Najib may be a crook who stole billions but at least their life was better back then. But then Pakatan Harapan really has no time to improve the lives of Malaysians when every waking hour is spent trying to topple one another. And Malaysians are beginning to realise this.
