‘Umno clueless about its folly’

WikiLeaks reveals that Sodomy II prompted the US envoy to warn Malaysian leaders against clumsy political manoeuvrings

PETALING JAYA: US diplomats warned Umno leaders in 2008 that continued attacks against Pakatan Rakyat, especially Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, would be detrimental to BN’s political survival.

According to a Wikileaks transcript released by Malaysia Today, US Ambassador to Malaysia James Keith told Washington that Umno leaders could not see past their actions.

“Umno leaders may fail to grasp the consequences of upping the ante; they hear what we are saying, but do not understand sufficiently well how difficult it will be for them to overcome the shadows they are casting on the country,” Keith wrote.

He said Umno might have thought that accusing Anwar with sodomy was a better decision than jailing him under the Internal Security Act.

However, he claimed, the decision would prove to be a folly, with few in and out of Malaysia buying into the Umno line.

“Contrary to their intent, many in the international community will take this as escalation,” he wrote in his confidential cable to the US State Department in Washington. “Barely one in ten Malaysians are buying into the party line, a survey tells us.”

In 2008, Anwar was accused of having sodomised his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, at a Bukit Damansara condominium on June 26 that year.

Anwar has consistently denied the charge, claiming that it was concocted to destroy his political career.

Keith said the accusation was not going to convince anyone that it was anything but a high-profile political conspiracy.

“Whatever (Umno leaders) believe about the ‘facts’ of the sodomy case, at this point the ruling party has no chance of success in conveying to the Malaysian or the international audience that this is merely a case of one citizen’s charge against another,” he said.

The US Embassy also said the Malaysian government took a strong stand against street demonstrations in the hope of preventing a growth in Anwar’s popularity.

According to Keith, Umno was of the opinion that demonstrations would “create an environment in which he can win converts from the ruling party coalition.”

Observers believe that this attitude has been amply displayed in recent weeks with the crackdown against dissent that is associated with the July 9 Bersih rally, which BN has branded as an event planned by the political opposition.