Anwar's Imprisonment May Have An Impact On Nation's Political Landscape

By Erda Khursyiah Basir and S. Kisho Kumari KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 11 (Bernama) -- Visible changes had been evident in Malaysia's political landscape ever since Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from the government in 1998. While some hailed the changes as favourable for democracy, it, however, gave rise to a new breed of political activists, to whom taking to the streets to voice out their concerns was a democratic right they were entitled to. Having been part of the ruling government's camp for many years, and then as Opposition Leader, Anwar's political career was riddled with controversy and he was synonymous with the term "reformasi" or reform, which was the battle cry of his ardent supporters at their street gatherings. Some of his supporters have even tried comparing their leader with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had previously been placed under house arrest, and even South African leader and anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela, who had spent 27 years in prison. But the comparison with such luminaries is hardly apt for a man whose struggle to seek justice was very much of a personal nature. Tuesday, the nation's political landscape has once again been impacted with the Federal Court's decision to reject Anwar's final appeal against a conviction handed down by the Court of Appeal on March 7, 2014, after he was found guilty of sodomising his personal assistant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan seven years ago. The apex court had also upheld Anwar's five-year jail term given by the Court of Appeal. This is the second sodomy case involving Anwar. In the earlier case, he was found guilty of sodomising his family driver Azizan Abu Bakar at Tivoli Villa, Kuala Lumpur, in 1994, and was sentenced to nine years' jail by the High Court on Aug 8, 2000. Was Anwar's sodomy trial a political conspiracy or an attempt to bring about his downfall? PERCEPTION OF CONSPIRACY Political analysts who were interviewed by Bernama said the panel of five judges, headed by Chief Justice Ariffin Zakaria, had based their decision on existing facts and testimony. Asso Prof Dr Ahmad Marthada Mohamed, who is the dean of Universiti Utara Malaysia's (UUM) College of Legal, Government and International Studies, said allegations that the trial was a political conspiracy against Anwar was baseless as the element of conspiracy was not backed by clear evidence and was merely based on assumption. "The defendant's legal team consisted of a former Federal Court judge (Gopal Sri Ram) and 14 other lawyers and they were given ample space to present their case. "Therefore, the conspiracy allegation is irrational because the court's decision was based on existing evidence," he said. The Federal Court panel, comprising Justice Ariffin, Court of Appeal President Md Raus Sharif, and Federal Court judges Justices Abdull Hamid Embong, Suriyadi Halim Omar and Ramly Ali, uanimously rejected Anwar's final appeal against the Court of Appeal's sodomy conviction. His appeal was rejected on the grounds that "there was beyond reasonable doubt that (Saiful) was sodomised by the appellant. So the appeal is dismissed". The court also held that Anwar had failed to prove his allegation that his trial was a political conspiracy. LACK OF EVIDENCE Anwar's sodomy trial itself was lengthy, having covered some six and a half years, and the court's decision should be accepted and respected by all parties. The case had kicked off at the High Court on Feb 3, 2010 and had since gone through the full and comprehensive legal process. The fact that the legal process itself was lengthy and time-consuming is proof that it was fair and just to both the plaintiff and defendant. Throughout the case, the proceedings were adjourned almost 70 times, with a bulk of the adjournments requested by Anwar's defence team for various reasons. It even tried to get one of the judges to withdraw himself from hearing the case. The appeal hearing was also postponed more than five times to enable Anwar to file several applications, thus indicating that his trial was conducted in a thorough and transparent manner. Senior lawyer N. Sivananthan said everyone had to accept the Federal Court judgement as its decision was based on the law. Prof Dr Abdul Halim Sidek, who is secretary of the National Professors Council's Political, Security and International Affairs Cluster, said Anwar had failed to furnish enough evidence to deny the prosecution's charges, and to substantiate his claim that the whole trial was a political conspiracy against him. "The public, especially Anwar's supporters, ought to be reminded that this case was not filed by the Barisan Nasional or Umno. It was filed by a man who had worked with the Opposition Leader. "This case involved Anwar's former employee (Mohd Saiful Bukhari). We have to look at it rationally because the case only involved the two of them. No one from outside and no political power had pushed the victim to file the case," he said. CREATING DOUBTS OVER JUDICIARY'S INDEPENDENCE Abdul Halim said Anwar had also resorted to the conspiracy theory during his first sodomy trial. "He was always claiming that he was being victimised by the political system and that the judiciary was also being politicised. But then we all know that the judiciary is independent and neutral. "The truth is, the political conspiracy theory was deliberately created by Anwar and his supporters so that the public would have doubts about the independence of our judiciary," he said. Abdul Halim said Anwar should not at all link his case to a political conspiracy because to date (before Tuesday's Federal Court decision) he had been freely carrying out his political activities, including giving speeches and condemning the ruling government. Dr Mohamad Faisol Keling, a lecturer at UUM's College of Legal, Government and International Studies, said the conspiracy claim was merely aimed at distracting the public's attention from the court's decision. BY-ELECTION Following Tuesday's court ruling, Anwar, 67, who was originally from Cherok Tok Kun in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, is no longer eligible to be the MP for Permatang Pauh. This is the second time that Anwar had lost his eligibility to be an MP. On April 14, 1999, he was found guilty and sentenced to six years jail by the High Court here, on four counts of corruption. A by-election in the Permatang Pauh Parliamentary constituency is now inevitable. Anwar's absence would have a big impact on the PKR-DAP-PAS coalition, which will have to come up with a new strategy to fortify their alliance. "Anwar's absence will have a big impact on the Pakatan Rakyat parties and may cause rivalry among the leaders of the three parties," said Mohamad Faisol. According to Ahmad Marthada, Anwar's absence would have an impact on the nation's political landscape, with Pakatan trying hard to find a suitable candidate who could replace Anwar as Opposition Leader. -- BERNAMA