KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has dismissed the need for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to come up with a formal coalition logo or to be registered as a formal coalition in time for the next general elections, widely expected by the first quarter of next year.The PAS president rubbished talk that PR’s inability to agree on a common logo was a sign of the coalition’s weakness, saying that “logos were not important.”
“Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can form a federal government without having to be (registered) as a formal coalition. We have achieved successes in the past using our current formula,” Hadi told The Malaysian Insider in an interview this week.
The Registrar of Societies (RoS) has been silent on the status of Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) registration application despite giving a positive response early this year.
It is understood that the RoS last communicated with PR representatives a “few months ago” to suggest changes to the coalition’s name.
Hadi (picture) also claimed that it was “still too early” for PR parties to come to a consensus on the logo, adding that more time was needed while the elections date was getting closer.
“What’s important is not the logo, not the symbol but the agreement and consensus that has been created. If there is a logo but no agreement what is the use? That is the reason why we are not focused on the logo...we can prolong our 2008 victory, where we achieved victory without formalisation or any logo.
“This has to be carried out. It’s true, to create a line of parties under one official banner needs legal approval. Till today, it is quite difficult for us to get that many parties under one banner,” said Hadi.
PR filed an application to register as a formal coalition to the RoS in November last year, just a month before it launched a common policy framework at its inaugural convention.
The coalition began as an informal gathering of three parties — PAS-PKR-DAP — in April 2008 following Election 2008.
It currently leads the state administrations of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor, and holds 77 parliamentary seats.
The Marang MP also sidestepped the question of PR’s leadership succession plan if PR defacto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is out of the picture.
“Till today, there are no leaders in Pakatan Rakyat. We move collectively. What is important is that we win the elections and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can then judge who is the leader that can be accepted by all Malaysians.
“The leader does not have to come from PAS, PKR...it could be Umno leaders who have joied PAS, Umno leaders who have joined PKR or even leaders among our current party leaders,” Hadi told The Malaysian Insider.
Anwar is currently facing sodomy charges for the second time in his life.
The former deputy prime minister is charged with sodomising a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on June 26, 2008.
Anwar has denied the charge, describing it as “evil, frivolous lies by those in power” when the charge was read out to him. He is charged under section 377B of the Penal Code and can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction. The trial is taking place 18 months after Anwar was charged in court in August 2008.
Elaborating further, Hadi said that it was still too premature to declare who was PR’s “rightful” leader as revealing PR’s cards too soon would be akin to “career suicide.”
However, the PAS politician claimed that Umno’s increasing attacks against Anwar, particularly on the PR leader’s recent rejection of the “Ketuanan Melayu” concept was because Umno leaders were “afraid” of the former Umno man.
“Their increasing attacks show Umno’s weaknesses and fear of their own shadows, possibly because Anwar was part of the Cabinet before, he was DPM, so naturally he would know a lot of Umno’s dark secrets,” said Hadi. - Malaysian Insider
Sodomy charges were a set-up
ReplyDeleteDecember 12, 2010
Anwar Ibrahim was set up after falling out with then Malaysian prime minister Mahatir Mahomaad but he did engage in an act that saw him charged with sodomy, the cables claim. Photo: Gary Schafer
MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy charges are the result of a "set up job" that the politician "walked into", according to an assessment by Australia's peak intelligence agency.
A leaked US State Department cable reveals that Singaporean intelligence officials told their Australian counterparts that Mr Anwar engaged in the conduct of which he is accused, a claim he has steadfastly denied.
Australia's Office of National Assessments (ONA) also states the conduct was the result of apparent entrapment by Mr Anwar's enemies.
The cable is one of several that deals with the explosive private views of senior Singaporean officials, including claims that:
■ Malaysia is in a "confused and dangerous" state due to incompetent politicians.
■ Thailand's political elite are dogged by corruption and the country's crown prince is "very erratic and easily subject to influence".
■ Japan is a ''big fat loser'' and Tokyo and Delhi were struggling to deal with China's influence due to their "stupid" behaviour.
The cable that deals with Mr Anwar's sodomy case, dated November 2008 and released to The Sunday Age by WikiLeaks, says: "The Australians said that Singapore's intelligence services and [Singaporean elder statesman] Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar 'did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted'."
The document says the Singaporeans told ONA they made this assessment on the basis of "technical intelligence", which is likely to relate to intercepted communications.
The ONA is also recorded as saying that Mr Anwar's political enemies engineered the circumstances from which the sodomy charges arose.
"ONA assessed, and their Singapore counterparts concurred, 'it was a set up job and he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway','' the cable states.
Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia and carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years.
Mr Anwar, a former Malaysian deputy prime minister, was jailed in 1999 on charges of corruption and sodomy after a falling out with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.
He later had his sodomy conviction overturned and was freed in 2004. In 2008 he was charged again with sodomy. Mr Anwar has maintained the case against him is fabricated and trumped up by political enemies who fear his political resurgence.
The case against him, which is continuing, has drawn widespread international criticism and has included bizarre twists.
Earlier this year, a prosecutor in the sodomy trial was dropped after she was accused of having an affair with the star witness.
The witness, 25-year-old Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, worked as an aide in Mr Anwar's office. He has accused the 62-year-old of sodomising him in an apartment in Malaysia.
In December 2009 Mr Anwar criticised then prime minister Kevin Rudd for not meeting him during a visit to Australia.
Mr Anwar accused Mr Rudd of appeasing Malaysia's ''corrupt leaders'' by snubbing him.