KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is not only focused on freeing jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and remains committed to important issues of the day, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said today.
The PKR vice-president said that PR’s exposés on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is proof that the opposition is still fighting for the rights of the public.
Nurul Izzah added that PR’s campaign against the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) showed the federal opposition was focused on fighting on many issues affecting the country.
“Like it or not, the opposition leader is the hallmark of democracy. So we cannot allow BN’s narrative which is ‘if you’re fighting for Anwar you’re losing focus.’ It comes in a holistic package,” she said.
Nurul Izzah, who is Anwar’s eldest daughter, said the fight to free her father, on the bigger scheme of things, represents the fight for democracy and a fair judiciary in Malaysia.
“Anwar Ibrahim is an Opposition Leader who has been imprisoned because he championed clear cut democratic rights for Malaysians and the fact that the persecution, the dragnet, has reached such a scale is testament to the struggle for reform that goes beyond Anwar Ibrahim,” she said.
“In his case alone, we talk about the judiciary... it’s credibility is at stake, the issue of even freedom of the media, mainstream media itself,” she added.
The fight for Anwar’s release, the MP continued, also represents the fight against the “abuse of powers” in the police force.
“If you allow for selective investigation, the abuse of powers, from Rahim Noor mind you, we’re living the legacy until today,” she said, referring to former police chief Tan Sri Rahim Noor who was the national police chief from 1994 to 1999.
“A Twitter trigger-happy chief of police, I think that’s something that should scare everyone and it really is a mark that can be seen in the Anwar Ibrahim case,” she said, possibly referring to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s recent barrage of investigation instructions via Twitter.
She adds that the role of the Opposition Leader is crucial to provide a “separation of power” and Anwar’s sentencing was just another indicator that Malaysia is in need of reform.
“The role of the Opposition Leader is so central because he represents the rakyat,” she said.
“The point is there must be separation of power in this country and Anwar Ibrahim’s case, his imprisonment, his continued detention, is a testament to a whole set of issues that stress the need for reform in Malaysia,” she added.
She said this in response to former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim questioning last Thursday if the Opposition was really fighting for a better Malaysia or merely fighting to free Anwar.
Zaid added that PR has been so focused on freeing Anwar that it has sidelined many other human rights issues in Malaysia like discrimination against women and non-Bumiputeras.
