Anwar’s Sodomy II - has it become Abdullah’s personal crusade?

Anwar’s Sodomy II - has it become Abdullah’s personal crusade?
Lim Kit Siang

I am flabbergasted.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi seems very determined to provide examples to illustrate the continuing crisis of confidence in his administration.

Yesterday, in an interview with Associated Press, Abdullah went public on the Sodomy II allegations against Anwar Ibrahim in a manner which could only mean that he was in the thick of the decision-making process as to whether Anwar Ibrahim, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser would be hauled to court for a second sodomy charge in a decade, when the Prime Minister has no business to be involved in the exercise of the discretionary power by the Attorney-General on matters of prosecution or otherwise.

How else could one interpret the following remarks by Abdullah yesterday:

“This man pleads for justice. We care about (Anwar) more than we care about this man? That is very odd. He needs justice; that is what he is crying for. We cannot ignore that.”

I am verily surprised that Abdullah had today repeated this obsession of “justice for Saiful” when he returned to the same subject today.

As reported by Bernama, Abdullah told reporters at his office in Putrajaya:

“The complainant is (Mohd) Saiful (Bukhari Azlan). He wants to seek justice in a court of law. We cannot ignore him (Saiful), as though he is unimportant. Everyone is important. The process of law is important. Everyone has the right to seek justice.”

The Prime Minister had earlier said Anwar is free to contest in the by-election to be held for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency but, at the same time, the country’s laws pertaining to the sodomy allegation against him will take their course if there is a case.

From his remarks on Anwar’s Sodomy II allegation yesterday and today, Abdullah is providing ammunition for the belief that it has become his personal crusade to get Anwar indicted for a second sodomy charge.

Why is Abdullah so determined and engrossed to see Anwar charged in court for Sodomy II when he should be more concerned about the plummeting public confidence in key institutions like the police, judiciary and Attorney-General five months after March 8 “political tsunami”?

Abdullah should schedule a special Cabinet session on the latest opinion poll by the independent Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research which found:

• 55 percent of 1,030 Malaysians interviewed in Peninsular Malaysia early this month do not believe the sodomy allegations leveled against Anwar. Only 11 percent believed in the allegations, while 26 percent said they did not know if the claims were true. Eight percent gave no response.

• two-thirds, or 66 percent, of the respondents believed that the accusations against Anwar Ibrahim were politically motivated.

Even more serious are the findings on on plummeting public confidence on the police, judiciary and the Attorney-General despite the pledge by the Prime Minister after the March 8 “political tsunami” that he had finally heard the voices of the people and that he would move boldly to carry out reforms particularly police and judicial reforms.

Although the survey concerns public confidence towards the judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the police as institutions involved in handling the Sodomy II allegation against Anwar, it reflects the generally dismal public confidence in these three institutions.

The survey found not more than 33 percent of all the respondents in the survey expressed confidence or were “somewhat confident” that these institutions would carry out their roles in handling Anwar’s case in a fair and independent manner.