Anwar confirms did not meet Najib in Jakarta: Susilo wanted to know about BN's GE13 fraud

Malaysian Opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim confirmed he did not meet Prime Minister Najib Razak in Jakarta, telling a 10,000-odd crowd in Batu Pahat, Johor that he had gone to the Indonesian capital at the invitation of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to brief him on the alleged electoral fraud in Malaysia's recently-concluded 13th general election.

Like other regional leaders, Susilo is concerned about the way forward for Malaysia after the controversial poll that the Malaysian Opposition and civil society say was marred by massive vote rigging, fraud and irregularities.

"There was no previous communication between me and President SBY and I took care to watch the Malaysian government's 'face'. I know TV3 and Utusan (the Umno controlled TV channel and newspaper) will spin a story about me being a foreign stooge. But what is important is that President SBY wanted to know what was happening in Malaysia and issued the invitation due to the increased coverage by the Indonesian media, which has been covering the Malaysian situation extensively. The feeling there is that the electoral fraud committed was excessive and if it had happened in Indonesia, there would have been a revolt," Anwar told the crowd at Parit Raja."

"The European Parliament has passed a resolution to put off signing a Free Trade Agreement with the Malaysian government until all the fraud allegations have been investigated. Turkey fails to understand why Pakatan which won 51% of total votes cannot form the federal government. And President SBY, who does not have any intention to interfere, wants to know how did the fraud take place. Where can our leaders hide their faces."

June 22 very critical

According to Anwar, the Indonesians also wanted to know what would happen on June 22.

The 64-year-old was referring to a mammoth rally the Opposition is organizing for next Saturday at the Padang Merbok field in Kuala Lumpur to protest massive and widespread vote rigging, fraud and irregularities they claim had robbed them of victory during the May 5 general election.

"June 22 is very critical. Everyone, from orang kampong (village folk),  to fishermen, farmers and most important of all young Malaysians must come. The world, just like Indonesia, is watching. Is there going to be  a protest, is it true the people want to clean up the electoral system, is it true they want to plug up all the weaknesses? If we succeed, then God willing, I am sure June 22 will mark a turning point in Malaysia's cruel political landscape.

I did not meet Najib, there were no messengers

Not surprisingly, Najib has tried hard to suppress what his Umno-BN coalition see as an Opposition-instigated people's revolt against their authority. More than a dozen arrests have been made so far and former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has called for more "tough" action to be taken against Opposition activists and leaders who helped organize the rallies.

Najib has also been accused of trying to play 'good cop' versus Mahathir's 'bad cop', with his aides suspected of leaking false news through a news portal that he and Anwar were due meet to discuss 'national reconciliation'.

"No, I did not meet him," Anwar told Malaysia Chronicle, adding that there had been no communication via "messengers" either. "No messengers whatsoever."

According to The Malaysian Insider,  Home Minister Zahid Hamidi was the one called to arrange the meeting as Najib was under pressure from Mahathir to resign for under-performing in the general election.

"Najib has nothing to offer. He only wanted to make use of Anwar's name to play good cop versus Mahathir's bad cop to pacify street actions. Take my word, Najib has no intention to make any concessions at all," PKR vice president Tian Chua had told Malaysia Chronicle earlier today.

Anwar reiterated there could be no reconciliation until concrete steps were made by Najib to clean up the system.

So far, although the 59-year-old Najib has pumped up the 'reform' rhetoric, he has actually clamped down further on civil liberties by arresting more than a dozen Opposition activists in connection with the 'Black 505' rallies.

No longer young virgins

The Black 505 rallies spearheaded by Anwar to garner public support for the Opposition's decision not to concede defeat and to pressure for the immediate sacking of the Election Commission chief and deputy chief as first steps towards revamping Malaysia's grossly-tainted electoral system and to reinstate public confidence and trust. 

"(We asked for) An ethical campaign, equal access to the media to all parties to speak up on their manifesto, the media must also not slander and defame the candidates. But did we get this? Now Najib wants to talk about national reconciliation but I say, resolve the fraud in the 13th general election first," said Anwar.

"I told President SBY we are not young virgins, we know the importance of stability to national security and to the economy but to wait until the next general election to push for change - we might as well wait till  Judgment Day as there is no way for any party to mount a fair challenge and win, not with the current Election Commission (chiefs), who are not deserving of their high office."

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