KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who was recently charged in court for corruption, today sought to cast doubt on political rival Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “reformist” image.
Wan Saiful suggested that the authorities had eyed him and his party president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin — with the next target their ally Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, who had recently come under fire for allegedly undermining democracy.
“Having gone after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and me from Bersatu, their new target is Tan Sri Haji Abdul Hadi Awang from PAS. The sole purpose is to cripple Perikatan Nasional so that they can destroy check and balance in this country,” he claimed in a statement posted on Facebook today, referring to the PN partnership which Bersatu and PAS are under.
“Tan Sri Abdul Hadi is investigated because of his comments on the change of government. There is nothing wrong with the statement. In our Westminster democracy, the government can be changed at any time,” said the former Bersatu information chief who had resigned following his criminal charge.
In his Facebook post, he had attached a photo bearing a news headline that the police are expected to investigate Hadi, who is the president of Islamist party PAS.
Wan Saiful made several allegations against Anwar, claiming that there is allegedly a “crackdown” on the opposition in order to enable governing without checks and balances while also asserting that nepotism is allegedly rife in the current administration.
“Anwar is no reformist. He is merely an old vengeful opportunist,” Wan Saiful claimed when seeking to challenge Anwar’s credentials as a reformist.
Earlier today, it was reported that the police will investigate police reports regarding Hadi’s claims that PN is planning to topple the federal government.
On February 21, Wan Saiful was charged and pleaded not guilty to a charge of soliciting a bribe and to a charge of receiving RM6.9 million for helping a company secure a project.
On the same day, Segambut Bersatu division deputy chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad pleaded not guilty to two corruption charges, namely for allegedly soliciting bribes and for allegedly receiving RM500,000 from a company.
Earlier today, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed it had arrested former prime minister Muhyiddin and said he would be charged in court tomorrow over alleged offences of abuse of power and alleged money laundering.
Anwar had on February 2 however stressed that Malaysia's investigation bodies and judiciary remain independent of the executive branch of government.
Earlier today, Anwar denied interfering with MACC's investigations on Muhyiddin, also questioning how big corruption cases could be tackled if critics were to label all cases to be politically-motivated.
