Watch Umno leaders, Anwar warns as Mubarak, Ben Ali escape with billions

Pakatan Rakyat leaders congratulated the people of Egypt for their successful ouster of dictator Hosni Mubarak after nearly three weeks strife and street violence.

Pointing to the corruption that had brought the regimes led by Mubarak and Tunisia’s Ben Ali to an end, they also warned the same could happen here with leaders of the ruling regime making a last grab for the country's wealth before they fled.

“The likes of Mubarak, Ben Ali escape with their billions. Watch the Umno leaders!” Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Twitter.

He was referring to Malaysia’s ruling party led by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Like the case in both Egypt and Tunisia, Umno has ruled with a fist of iron for decades. Leaders including Najib, his predecessors Abdullah Badawi and Mahathir Mohamad have been accused of siphoning massive amounts of the people’s money into their own accounts.

Last month, renowned watchdog Global Financial Integrity named Malaysia as one of the nations to have suffered the largest amounts of illicit outflows amounting to a whopping US$291 billion or RM888 billion during the years 2000 to 2009.

When different groups and different creeds unite

Meanwhile, MP for Bukit Bendera Liew Chin Tong (left) said the changing landscape in the Muslim world had strong ramifications for the future especially for nations where Islam played a key role.

“The world has witnessed once again the triumph of democracy. The end of Mubarak’s thirty-year autocratic rule of Egypt, following the end of Ben Ali’s 23-year rule of Tunisia, has ramifications beyond its shores,” Liew, who is also the DAP International Secretary, said in a statement.

“All autocrats and dictators that survive on manipulating elections, controlling the media and crushing legitimate dissents with police brutality, are put on notice by the sudden wave of democratisation in the Middle East and North Africa.”

PKR state assemblyman for Seri Setia Nik Nazmi (right) urged Malaysians to be emboldened by the courage shown by the people in Egypt and Tunisia. He said the new century was an era where people would get closer due to globalisation and the Internet. Racial and religious discrimination would fade so long as the people supported the rights of each other.

"It shows the demand for democracy works when the people stand up for it.It is also inspirational to watch the way Muslims and Christians, secularists and Islamists, liberals and moderates work together for change," Nik Nazmi told Malaysia Chronicle.

Liew also called the Egypt people’s uprising a “Berlin Wall moment” for the Muslim world that heralded an era of democracy and greater civil rights for the people.

“It is also a clear signal to governments that have previously ignored the challenges posed by unplanned urban growth, youth unemployment and under-employment, growing inflation and inequality, as well as corruption,” said Liew. - Malaysia Chronicle