Ibrahim wields faith to ward off ‘Umno stooge’ claims

Ibrahim insists he is his own man. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Datuk Ibrahim Ali declared today his willingness to swear on Allah’s name that he acts of his own free will and has never been influenced by Umno.

In saying so, the fiery Perkasa president belittled Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for refusing to do the same to prove his innocence in the sex video scandal and Sodomy II case.

“You, Anwar, were not brave enough to swear with (Mohd) Saiful (Bukhari Azlan) and Datuk Trio. Who is the real comedian here, if not yourself?” he asked.

The Pasir Mas MP was responding to Anwar’s criticisms of him over the weekend where the PKR de facto leader called Ibrahim the “worst example of Malaysian politics”.

Ibrahim’s Perkasa has also often been accused of being an offshoot of Umno and part of the Najib administration’s strategy to draw support from the hard-line Malay electorate.

But Ibrahim insisted today that by levelling such accusations against him, Anwar was merely adding to his already growing list of sins.

“O’ my old friend, I am not as bad or as evil as you. I have never been anyone’s stooge, or what’s worse, your stooge for life,” he said.

Ibrahim accused Anwar of destroying Umno as well as PAS and its spiritual advisor, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, with his support for pluralism and attempt to spread disunity among the Malays.

He further claimed Anwar was insincere, pointing to the latter’s days in Abim, when he had been critical of Umno and later supported PAS, before shifting allegiances to Umno until he was sacked and entered PKR.

“Your story is long, Anwar. You are rotten to the core and you are the worst... but you are good at acting. So go ahead and act. You can cheat your family and your friends who are blind all the time but you cannot cheat me all the time,” he said.

Ibrahim described his relationship with Anwar as “love-hate”, adding that although at one point they were both in the same party, he had never been the latter’s “yes man”.

He added that he has been “clean” throughout his political career and hence, was a more powerful politician than Anwar.

“I know now, that after 30 years, it seems I am more powerful than you, Anwar. I pity you, Anwar, but what can be done? Repent and stop destroying the country and its people,” he said.