Zaid Ibrahim: If truth be told, Anwar too can’t be PM

This is an extract of Zaid Ibrahim’s speech at the Rotary Club on 18 March 2009:
18. A prime minister must have the confidence of the majority of the rakyat. In order for this to be the case, his integrity must be beyond question; not only must he be such a person character, he must be seen to be such a person. The office of prime minister is one of great trust, he who holds that office cradles the nation in his palms.

Going by Zaid’s arguments, Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim will definitely be out of Zaid’s equation as a person suitable to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Firstly, Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim does not command the confidence of the majority of the people in Malaysia. In fact, I would consider his party as a junior partner in the loose DAP-PKR-PAS coalition called Pakatan Rakyat. He may have a lot of vocal supporters on the internet and through the influence of internet. He also enjoys the support of the hooligans on the street. But most of them are anti-establishment and actually have common dislike on the current state of UMNO and Barisan Nasional, and unfortunately choose PKR as an alternative.

Secondly, Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim’s is NOT a person of integrity, and I do not see him to be a person with integrity.

Zaid’s speech contains a lot of innuendoes and allegations ala Raja Petra Kamaruddin. I actually get a feeling that he sourced most of his information through reading Malaysia Today and believing whatever were written there (including the commentaries), as the gospel truths.

Yes, Zaid is just another accuser.

Najib was never an accused person in the murder of Altantuya Shaaribu. But he has been already considered guilty in the murder case by Petra, Anwar, Gobind, others, and now, Zaid.

I can also implicate Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim on some other things, and stamp a guilty verdict on Anwar.

Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim has been cpnvicted of power abuse and corruption. And that is an undeniable fact. Anwar, the ex-convict, will certainly abuse his power again if he is back in the government.

During the UMNO election in 1993, when the late Tun Ghaffar Baba was the UMNO Deputy President, Anwar abused his power as the then Finance Minister to gather enough financial resources for bribery to defeat the incumbent for the post. It was especially apparent with the sudden change in support from the Sabah delegates from Ghaffar to Anwar during the fateful UMNO election.

Anwar continued his abuse of power when he was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister to accumulate wealth and financial resources through his nominees and cronies. He had accumulated enough wealth and financial influence to challenge Mahathir for the UMNO Presidency and Prime Ministership when the Asian financial crisis struck, and some of his financial holdings through his cronies cracked. When Anwar was sacked and jailed, many of his cronies managed to flee overseas, and some still remain there with their ill-gotten wealth. I was even related to the common phrase among Anwar’s cronies: that they were holding the wealth on behalf of Pak Sheikh (a codename for Anwar).

I was also related to stories that whenever Anwar touched down into United States during his tenure as Deputy Prime Minister, he will be AWOL for a few hours without his ADCs, and will re-appear at the hotel hours later. Conspiracy theorists related to me of Anwar’s sexual tendencies and the supply of the same by the Americans.

When his alleged sexual romps were under investigation, Anwar abused his powers to pressure the police to stop the investigation. I am therefore not surprise if he is currently pressuring the police and the AG office to stop the Sodomy II from going further. Based on the accounts of the Judges, Anwar’s conviction in respect of Sodomy I was overturned just because of technicality of the charge, not because it never happened.

Karpal Singh has a lot of dark secrets on Anwar. That’s why Karpal dared to say that Anwar is indeed an immoral person. Anwar never vilified Karpal for that statement, because there must be truth to it. Anwar would never vilify Karpal for anything, because Anwar is afraid that Karpal will spill more beans.

Even Raja Petra Kamaruddin has a lot of dark secrets on Anwar. Petra once wrote about the mystery of the missing coffers for Free Anwar Campaign. The story was never followed-up by Petra, presumably because he had been given his fair share of the bargain.

Anwar does have the oratory skill and charm to gather support. I am not sure whether he is in fact formally a member of PKR, a party in which he is the Advisor a.k.a. Ketua Umum. Some say that Anwar is actually not a PKR party member. But this non-member is the most powerful person in the party, and more powerful compared to the PKR party President. That’s why PKR can afford to limit the term for the President post. Anwar will never become their President, and as Ketua Umum, he will not be subjected to any term limit.

So, Anwar the party-less individual now has another party-less individual by the name of Zaid Ibrahim, as his friend. Both were from UMNO. And by remaining party-less, they can claim their place back in the UMNO rank if opportunity arises in the future. They will claim to the UMNO people that they had never turn their back against UMNO, by not joining the rival parties during their period outside UMNO.

Zaid Ibrahim himself has been found guilty of money politics in the last UMNO elections, when he won the Kota Bharu divisional head post. In fact, Zaid failed to receive enough nomination for the Kota Bharu divisional post during the current UMNO election process, possibly because he did not resort to any money politics. The truth is that, Zaid has no grassroot support in Kota Bharu. Without any financial incentive, nobody will consider and vote for Zaid to represent them for the Kota Bharu divisional post.

After his apparent failure to get support for the Kota Bharu divisional post, Zaid maneuvered himself out of the Cabinet. And once he was out of the Cabinet, Zaid started his vilification against UMNO and the current government ministers.

By openly speaking against the appointment of Najib as Malaysia’s next Prime Minister, Zaid has done a great disservice to the nation. His speech has been widely quoted initially through the alternative media, and picked up by the international media to discredit Malaysia and the incoming Prime Minister.

Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim would be smiling with a glee by having another goon on his side. He may not of course realise that Zaid Ibrahim is also implying, in the same speech, that if truth be told, Anwar too can’t be PM.