Are Najib & Rosmah GOING TOO FAR in their sodomy vendetta against Anwar?

Written by Iskandar Dzulkarnain

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy Case appeal is coming up for hearing on Oct28th. With the Federal Court dismissing Anwar Ibrahim's final application to disqualify Shafee Abdullah as deputy public prosecutor, it is highly likely that Anwar will not escape incarceration.

 

Earlier, a three-member Court of Appeal bench sentenced Anwar to five years' jail, but granted him a stay on the sentence pending his appeal to the Federal Court.

 

Touted by many as a sham trial with ill political intent, it brings to mind the chilling expose of former US Ambassador to Malaysia John Mallot who warned of a plot to politically kill of Anwar, and how Prime Minister Najib Razak’s close aide Razak Baginda had leaked to a senior Embassy officer; “ The decision has been made. They are going to nuke Anwar until he can never stand up again politically. We are going to keep filing charge after charge after Anwar, so he will be in jail for the next 100 years.”

 

Well, the walls are slowly closing in on Anwar, his time is running out, and soon he will be behind bars counting the days until his luck runs out. Will he survive the cold hard walls to re-emerge again one day to lead this nation? The odds are against him given that he is a frail 67years old with a bad back. Mandela was lucky! He got out after umpteenth years in prison to lead South Africa, but Anwar may not be so lucky.

We recall the numerous lame attempts in the past, to nuke Anwar, like the Datuk T Sex Videos that ended with the trio making a religious declaration in a mosque wearing bullet proof jackets that only added to the ridicule.

 

Each and every attempt to corner Anwar backfired awkwardly at the government, strengthening his credibility more and more.

 

And credibility is Anwar’s forte and which is what UMNO/BN sadly lacks. He has shown the right decorum, courage and fighting spirit to face what the public feels as manifestly trumped up charges against him. His incarceration will only make him a bigger icon in the eyes of Malaysians.

 

Coupled with international support which will increase further, it would be easy to associate Anwar with the Arab Spring rebellion against despotic regimes like Gaddafi in Libya, Mubarak in Egypt and Ben Ali in Tunisia, which in turn can be equated to the UMNO-BN leadership.

 

Anwar-phobia

 

Neutering him by locking him up and throwing away the key, will only entrench the fact that Anwar-phobia has gotten the better of UMNO-BN who has lost all sense of fair-play to kill him off politically.

 

Seriously, how can a frail 67year old pose such a grave threat to an elected government and the nation? Why is UMNO/BN so afraid of him, that they have to resort to such high handed tactics to silence him permanently from making a political comeback?

 

All eyes are on Najib, who is trying all ways and means to bluster his way through. But really, his first line of defense should be against his own comrades in UMNO rather than Anwar. They are more of a threat to him than Anwar can ever be.

 

Does Najib reckon that if he can neutralize Anwar’s influence, he may just be able to regain favour with the UMNO warlords and buy more time?

 

Is it the right strategy to jail Anwar?

The government should seriously review their strategy to jail him. Jailing him will be the biggest mistake and complete a detour from the top rungs of leadership and make him an even greater hero and may spark the popular uprising that UMNO leaders fear the most.

It will be a strong rallying point for the Opposition and the tonic that will rejuvenate the ultimate call for change. The forces of change will continue, even without Anwar, who will be remembered for the supreme sacrifice he made by being imprisoned for fighting for the rakyat.

 

Malaysians have hardly forgotten that Anwar’s incarceration in 1999 led to the worst showing ever in the history of Umno and forced the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

 

Dire domestic repercussions & international backlash

 

The government needs to acknowledge that it is the anti-Umno/BN sentiment that skyrocketed since 2008 due largely to corruption, cronyism and abuse of power that swayed 52% of the Rakyat to vote Opposition.

 

If Anwar goes to jail, it will continue to skyrocket higher with the public rallying together to vote against BN. They needn’t take to the streets as they have seen the power of their votes in the last two elections.

Meanwhile, the Malays will not turn a blind eye or remain silent, but will see him as a martyr. It won’t be difficult for Anwar to swing back the Malays to his fold and they are already looking to him for leadership despite the daily attacks by the MSM.

 

The Non Malays will look up to him as an icon of hope in a nation, wrecked by corruption and racial discrimination that encouraged 52% of Malaysians to give him their votes.

 

The backlash will be intense, with the Opposition closing ranks to strategize his release and the downfall of a despotic regime.

 

Najib should be figuring out how to deal with the backlash, should Anwar be imprisoned. Relying on the Sedition Act is not going to work this time.

 

The international price would be too high to pay, as Anwar’s international reputation precedes even him and he can count on strong international support to put pressure on the Umno government.

All the PM’s talk about 1Malaysia, world’s best democracy and slogans like “Malaysia bolih” and ‘endless possibilities’ sound so hollow, when the government is seen to go all out to protect a despicable bigot like Ibrahim Ali, even to the extent of citing the Federal Constitution but so intent on jailing a credible leader like Anwar Ibrahim.

 

With every BN leader lining up to bad mouth the Opposition leader in the past, his purported misdeeds splashed vividly on the mainstream media, radio and television; it is truly unbelievable that 52% of Malaysians still gave him their votes. Now, that shows real credibility.

 

Anwar is well prepared to go to jail. The courts have meted out his sentence and there’s no turning back.

He could have run away like a coward, but no, he chose to stay and fight for the poor and the downtrodden, for freedom, for equality and the hope that our nation would one day become a full fledged democracy. And for this act of valour, the people would forever be indebted to him.

 

Alone in his cold dark cell, he can only pray for the nation, but It is up to the people now to take back what rightly belongs to them or continue to be bullied for the rest of their lives. - MAILBAG