Former Indonesian VP ‘furious’ Anwar broke promise

“I told him, are you mad? How could you (Anwar) become Prime Minister when you only won 89 parliamentary seats but on the other hand, Najib won 133 seats?” Jusuf said.

(Malaysian Digest) – Former Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla said he and several Indonesian friends of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim are ‘furious’ with the Opposition leader for reneging on his promise to accept the outcome of Malaysia’s 13th General Election on May 5.

Jusuf said in a recent interview with portal Merdeka Online that he was angry with Anwar for breaking his promise and failing to accept Pakatan Rakyat’s defeat after the May 5 polls.

Anwar has embarked on a series of rallies across the country called ‘Blackout 505’ since Pakatan Rakyat lost to the ruling Barisan Nasional government. Pakatan won 89 parliamentary seats in comparison to BN which won 133 seats out of the 222 seats contested.

“When he (Anwar) broke his promise after the election was over…I was angry with him and so were his friends in Jakarta as he failed to commit himself over the agreement,” Jusuf said.

“To that, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) called me to ask if Anwar had broken his promise over the agreement, I said ‘yes’,” he added.

Jusuf said Anwar had met him three times before the election to ask him to be a peace mediator between Anwar and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Jusuf stated during the interview that Anwar had met him at his residence in Jakarta last March with two Indonesian MPs, Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Fahmi Idris.

He said the deal was made by Anwar as well as Najib to refrain from making personal attacks against each other and to accept the outcome of the election.

He clarified that it was only Anwar who had come up with a written agreement and he wanted Najib to sign the agreement.

The former vice-president stated that Anwar was confident that the opposition pact was going to win the election.

“Based on my observation, he (Anwar) seemed confident that he was going to win the Malaysian general election and said that he received outstanding support from the people wherever he went.

“So Anwar wanted me to be a mediator between himself and Najib due to my good relationship with the duo, therefore for the sake of friendship I agreed to be the mediator,” he said.

Jusuf said that Anwar wanted Najib to accept the fact that whoever lost during the election should accept defeat and that the loser would have to convey his ‘best wishes’ to the winner.

“Likewise, he (Anwar) also agreed to accept defeat should he lose in the election. But when I met Najib in Kuala Lumpur, he listened to the agreement without any objection but chose not to sign the deal.”

Jusuf explained in the interview that the result of the meeting was conveyed to Anwar, stating that although Najib had not signed the agreement it did not mean that he objected to the deal.

“I told Anwar to accept Najib’s decision in a gentlemanly manner, which Anwar eventually agreed upon,” said Jusuf.

The interviewer asked Jusuf to comment on Anwar’s refusal to accept the election results and his decision to go back on his promise.

Jusuf responded saying, “Anwar made accusations that the indelible ink was removable, so I scolded him. You claim the ink is removable, but how come there are still traces of ink on your finger? I pointed out the mark while holding his inked finger.

“He instead brought up the issue of Bangladeshi voters, to which I asked him, don’t you think Malaysians will be able to differentiate speech, language, culture and the Bangladeshi way of life?

“It is impossible to have tens of thousands of Bangladeshi voters being flown into the country to become voters. This does not make any sense.”

Jusuf described the electoral system in Malaysia as different from that of Indonesia, because votes are calculated through the electoral system in which the party that wins the majority will go on and form the Federal Government and elect their Prime Minister.

“I told him, are you mad? How could you (Anwar) become Prime Minister when you only won 89 parliamentary seats but on the other hand, Najib won 133 seats?” Jusuf said.