‘Why certain ‘Ibrahims’ are useless’

Perkasa chief gives his take on why he would make a better PM than Anwar and that people like the Selangor MB and former law minister Zaid cannot be trusted

SHAH ALAM: Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali has declared himself a better fit to become the prime minister of Malaysia than Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The controversial Malay right-wing group leader told an audience of about 500 Perkasa members last night that only “crazy people” would support Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister given the latter’s “sinful indulgences”.

This was despite the fact that during the May 5 polls, more than 51% of the electorate voted for Pakatan Rakyat, and, by virtue of that, Anwar Ibrahim as candidate for prime minister.

“There is nothing wrong in changing the government, but unfortunately in Malaysia, PKR cannot be an alternative (to Umno).

“PAS cannot replace Umno. Anwar cannot become prime minister,” Ibrahim said in his speech at the Perkasa Selangor Conference 2013 here last night.

“Do you want him to become Prime Minister? Him and all his sins… Only crazy people would support him. I’d make a better prime minister than him!” said Ibrahim, to roars of approval and cheers of “yes!” from the Malay audience.

In backing up his grand claim, Ibrahim pointed to his name, which he said was a combination of two renown figures in Islamic history – Prophet Ibrahim and Ali bin Abi Talib, companion to Prophet Muhammad and the fourth caliph.

“Who is Anwar Ibrahim? People whose names end with Ibrahim cannot be trusted. Look at (Selangor Menteri Besar) Khalid Ibrahim and (former law minister) Zaid Ibrahim. All of them are useless,” said Ibrahim.

‘Umno the only choice’

The former Pasir Mas MP then slammed Zaid for remarking sarcastically that the judges presiding over the ‘Allah’ case in the Court of Appeals must be very well-versed in Christianity to have concluded on Monday that ‘Allah’ was “not integral” to the Christian faith.

“He is so insolent. I don’t mind that he’s Kelantanese, because he grew up in Kuala Lumpur. And I’m not very surprised about the statement, as it’s coming from a man who’s drunk 24 hours a day,” said Ibrahim.

He stressed that lack of a solid alternative to Umno and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was the reason why Malays must vote for Barisan Nasional in the following election.

“I expected that if we had won the two-thirds majority, and if Umno won back Selangor in the 13th general election all the political turmoil would be over.

“There would be no more insults to Islam, attempts to tear the Malays apart, insults to the Malay Sultans. All our 1001 problems would be solved,” said Ibrahim.

Instead, he said, BN had suffered a worse setback than in 2008, and the opposition had grown more “arrogant and powerful”.