KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today chided certain leaders for celebrating former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s imprisonment on a graft conviction, saying it is as though they themselves are “clean” and have not done anything wrong.
“I do not despise those who are imprisoned,” the PKR president and parliamentary opposition chief. “I know how their wives, children, and friends think.”
“Please don’t take advantage of the situation to act superior, because those who are condemning Najib now are equally corrupt,” he said after presenting a keynote address at a seminar titled “Pathway to a better future for Malaysia” at Grand Dorsett Subang.
Anwar said it is an “open secret” that some leaders have amassed billions of ringgit highlighted in the international leaks of the Pandora and Panama papers.
The Pandora Papers refer to the millions of leaked documents put together by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and made public on October 2, 2021, allegedly revealing offshore accounts of present and past leaders, including presidents, prime ministers, billionaires, and prominent business people.
Among those linked are Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, PKR’s William Leong, as well as parents of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho.
The Panama Papers refer to an enormous leak of documents revealing world leaders and celebrities who stashed their money in offshore shell companies and tax shelters.
The ICIJ had in 2016 reported that members of the Malaysian government and their families were among those who owned offshore firms in Singapore and the British Virgin Islands.
Najib was ordered to serve his 12-year jail sentence beginning on Tuesday after the Federal Court upheld the high court’s conviction of the Pekan MP for all seven of his charges related to the SRC International Sdn Bhd corruption case.
Anwar himself was sentenced to five years in jail on a sodomy-related conviction, which was upheld by the Federal Court in February 2015.
The case, incidentally held during Najib’s time as prime minister, was widely criticised over several contentious issues brought up in court.
Anwar was given a full royal pardon and released from prison in May 2018.
Earlier in his speech, Anwar lamented the failures of public policy and the ongoing machinations of politicians who amassed wealth for themselves, which have taken their toll on the rakyat.
“We cannot ignore the growing cynicism among those who are losing hope that politicians can make any meaningful contribution to the resolution of these basic problems,” he said. – The Vibes, August 25, 2022
