in 1998, the war between Dr M and his upstart Deputy came (haha) to a head (hahahaa) when said Deputy was deposed, accused of sodomy, and thrown in jail. It was no thanks to such ridiculous accusations that Malaysians actually took to the streets protesting such ridiculous actions by the government.
While there might have been silent dissatisfaction before, in 1998 this dissatisfaction boiled over. It was now possible to be Malay, Muslim and NOT an UMNO (ruling Malay party) supporter. I'd like to think some people's eye were opened to suspect goings-on within the government. I do believe the younger people were less willing to put up with such actions. Heck, this probably did a lot to pave the way for the total shake-up in the March 2008 elections, where Barisan Nasional was denied a 2/3 majority in the newly elected Malaysian parliament.
In 2004, the Federal Court reversed the sodomy conviction and he was released. And back into politics he went. He couldn't run in the March 2008 elections, but I think he might be eligible now.
So, is it a surprise that this now hits the news?
Malaysia's Anwar to be investigated on sex charges: police
Agence France-Presse
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will be investigated over new allegations of sodomy, police said Saturday, the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago.
Anwar's Keadilan party said that one of his aides, Saiful Bahari, had been arrested and "forced" to make a statement saying he was sodomized by the opposition leader.
"Yes, we have received a police report from an aide of Anwar Ibrahim that he was sodomized. But no, we will not arrest Anwar at the moment," said deputy police chief Ismail Omar.
"We will investigate this report first. We will look into it and carry out the necessary steps before issuing any warrant of arrest," he told AFP.
Keadilan officials said that Anwar and other top members of the party were holding crisis talks and feared that he could be arrested soon.
The charismatic leader of Malaysia's resurgent opposition was a respected deputy prime minister and finance minister until 1998 when he was sacked and later jailed on sodomy and corruption charges.
He spent six years in jail until the sex charge was overturned, but the corruption conviction kept him out of politics until recently.
In March he led an alliance of opposition parties to unprecedented gains, wresting a third of parliamentary seats and five states from the Barisan Nasional coalition which has ruled for half a century.
Since then he has claimed he has the support of enough government lawmakers to form a new government.
(source: Rocky's Bru)
i just don't effing believe this
*looking around for a coconut shell I can crawl under*
Nyampah onot?
ReplyDeletememang! nyampah giler siotttt!
ReplyDeletei know that every country has its quirks, but it's harder to bite the bullet when it happens in your own homeland.
ReplyDeletethat's the "leaders of our country" for you. i'm glad this issue made it to the international news because it's good to know that the world can see some of our dirty laundry. no shame!
makes me angry.