In Malaysian Politics, Fighting Dirty Is the Norm

In Malaysian Politics, Fighting Dirty Is the Norm

Race to Lead Nation
Focuses on the Feuds
Of Powerful People

By JAMES HOOKWAY
July 24, 2008; Page A10

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- In the center of a political drama unfolding in Malaysia, steeped in conflicts over race and patronage, is a battle between two ambitious politicians slugging it out to become the resource-rich country's prime minister.

In one corner is 60-year-old Anwar Ibrahim, a one-time Muslim firebrand who was ousted from Malaysia's ruling party a decade ago and imprisoned on sex charges before his conviction was overturned. Now one of the Islamic world's best-known personalities -- with friends including former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and ex-World Bank President James Wolfensohn -- Mr. Anwar leads an opposition alliance that has badly shaken the ruling National Front coalition. Among his goals: tearing down a system of race-based affirmative-action programs that have helped the ethnic Malay-dominated National Front to rule this multiracial country for 50 years.

Associated Press (2)

Najib Abdul Razak, left, and Anwar Ibrahim each face serious attacks on their characters.

Mr. Anwar's rival is Najib Abdul Razak, 54, deputy prime minister and designated successor to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has said he will hand over power in mid-2010. Soft-spoken, cautious and a defender of Malay privileges, British-educated Mr. Najib epitomizes the country's political establishment. His father was Malaysia's second premier and created the country's pro-Malay affirmative-action policy in 1971.

The leadership battle has turned into a bruising personal confrontation, full of lurid allegations involving sodomy, infidelity and murder.

The struggle shows how this economically successful nation of 27 million -- often touted as a democratic model for the Islamic world -- has failed to develop independent governing institutions to safeguard its long-term prosperity and stability. Instead, Malaysia's political fate is still tied largely to powerful individuals and their feuds.

"Malaysian politics is all about individuals rather than parties -- and as a result character assassination is an effective tool here," said political analyst Shamsul Amin Baruddin at the National University of Malaysia.

After succeeding Malaysia's authoritarian premier Mahathir Mohamad in 2003, Prime Minister Abdullah, 68, has made a stab at reforming the police and judiciary and has relaxed the government's grip on the media. But many Malaysians, conditioned by effective one-party rule under the National Front since independence in 1957, are deeply suspicious of government authority and assume the justice system, bureaucracy and the press are still subservient to political pressure.

Last week, Malaysia arrested Mr. Anwar on suspicion of sodomy -- a crime in Malaysia -- shortly after he announced his intention to run for Parliament and take up formal leadership of Malaysia's opposition alliance. The allegation -- which Mr. Anwar denies -- closely mirrors those leveled at him in 1998, when he was sacked from the government and spent six years in jail until a sodomy conviction was overturned in 2004.

Mr. Anwar accuses Mr. Najib's camp of pushing the arrest for political reasons. Mr. Najib has repeatedly denied having anything to do with the matter.

Mr. Anwar was in the National Front government himself for 16 years in the 1980s and 1990s and backed many of the policies he now criticizes. Mr. Najib's allies cast the opposition leader as a smooth-talking opportunist, who readily shifts political positions to curry favor with would-be supporters.

Mr. Anwar has been slinging some mud of his own. After the most recent sodomy accusation against him, Mr. Anwar presented to the local media a private investigator, who alleged that Mr. Najib was linked to a Mongolian model found after she was killed in Malaysia in 2006. Mr. Najib's key political adviser and two policemen, including his former security chief, are now on trial in the murder.

The investigator -- who later retracted his allegations and is now in hiding -- initially said in a sworn deposition that he had been informed Mr. Najib had been involved in a sexual relationship with the Mongolian woman. The remains of the model, who was shot and blown up with plastic explosives, were found in a jungle.

Mr. Najib has denied any involvement in the death of the Mongolian woman, whom he says he never met.

Mr. Anwar is free on bail and is touring the country, drumming up support for his cause while he still can. He says he fears re-arrest at any time and has refused to provide a DNA sample to investigators, on the grounds they might try to frame him with his genetic material.

Some Malaysians may be beginning to tire of the accusations. In recent years, the growth of Internet forums and cellphone text messages has provided people here with an alternative to the government-controlled mainstream media and a place they can discuss political and economic change.

"Malaysians now have a lot more confidence in exercising their electoral rights and are looking at the big issues regardless of the government of the day," said Khoo Kay Peng, an independent political analyst and author.

The National University of Malaysia's Prof. Shamsul says that after all the fighting, it's possible neither Mr. Najib nor Mr. Anwar will become prime minister and a less-tarnished candidate could emerge.