KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alleged today that the supposed plot to destabilise his administration is motivated by the “mass scale” fight against corruption, including against the person behind the purported conspiracy.
Anwar’s accusation came amid an ongoing police investigation into claims that the wife of a former senior minister is working with “foreign agents” to topple the sitting government.
The person dismissed the allegations, calling them a tactic to divert scrutiny away from the anti-graft body, which faces mounting public scrutiny following a Bloomberg report alleging systemic power abuse within the MACC.
“What is driving these activities is the large-scale corruption investigations by the MACC. That is what has prompted them to act by utilising the strength of both domestic and international influence,” he said during Ministerial Question Time.
“And their strategy — as partially mentioned earlier, which I quoted from the records of the international company involved — includes, for example, contacting all foreign media with a strategy to dispute the efforts of the government, specifically the MACC.”
Critics of the Anwar government have questioned the timing of the police probe.
Meanwhile, in response to the accusations against her, the person accused of conspiring pointed out in a statement that Anwar himself had attempted to unseat the Najib administration by coaxing Barisan Nasional MPs to defect — a plan that did not materialise.
A news report also implicates Anwar’s family, alleging they worked with an American-based public relations company on a campaign to put pressure on the Najib government, when Anwar was still in jail for what he claimed were trumped up charges.
The report cited “dozens” of private email exchanges between a family member and the company executive, claiming they were verified by a senior leader from Anwar’s party, PKR.
Malay Mail could not independently verify the report.
When asked to explain the matter, the prime minister deflected, saying Parliament “should not be a battleground for partisan politics.”
Anwar then called for patience, and suggested MPs across the aisle unite when facing a supposed foreign threat.
“Please read the report. This is not a personal thing...if you look at the report there was contact with an aide of a minister from a foreign country,” he said.
“This isn’t a lobby for freedom. This plan aims to discredit our entire system. This isn’t just about protecting one’s reputation. This is clearly a plan to overthrow the government because the timeline suggests the campaign will continue until the next general election.”
Leaked documents of the purported “conspiracy” have circulated online since the allegation surfaced.
The papers indicated a communication strategy that among other things, aimed to vindicate the reputation of the late senior minister who, despite being accused of corruption, has not been charged to this day.
Anwar’s family had also been accused of employing the same strategy with the American-based firm, which allegedly sought to pressure then-Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak through the Obama administration.
Anwar has neither denied nor confirmed the report.
