Anwar and Najib competing for the post of Opposition Leader

But what is most ironical is that Anwar and Najib Tun Razak seem to be having the same narrative. They appear to be reading from the same script. It looks like Anwar and Najib are competing for the post of Opposition Leader. And both are being touted as the prime minister-in-waiting.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Reading the news report on Anwar Ibrahim (BELOW), you would never suspect that it was today’s news report. Apart from Anwar’s comments on Covid-19, the rest is the same old story from more than 20 years ago, especially this part:

He urged the rakyat to focus on good governance, the fight against corruption and corrupt politicians, as if they failed to do so, “our country will not be able to move forward”.

Anwar has been saying this since 1998. In fact, he said the same 40 years ago in 1981, just before he joined Umno. But, after he joined Umno in 1982, he abandoned the fight against abuse of power and corruption.

Then, in 1998, after he got sacked from Umno and was removed as Finance Minister cum Deputy Prime Minister, he picked up the rallying call to fight against abuse of power and corruption again.

Anwar’s fight against abuse of power and corruption takes place only when he is not in the government. When he is in government, he drops his fight against abuse of power and corruption.

In fact, PKR was in control of Selangor for the last 13 years since 2008. Before PKR took over Selangor, Anwar accused the Barisan Nasional government of rampant and blatant abuse of power and corruption.

And that is true. Selangor wasted billions of the money they received from the Federal Government when Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were annexed and turned into Federal Territory.

Note I used the word “annexed” and not “sold”, because that was what happened. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were annexed, just like Labuan was.

Anyway, after PKR took over Selangor, it was business as usual. And when Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim refused to use state money for party purposes, they kicked him out on allegations he is corrupt. (Later they had to publicly apologise for this fitnah).

So, all this talk about fighting against abuse of power and corruption is pure hogwash. Anwar has been saying that for 40 years. And he is still saying the same thing today. However, when he is in power, he is more corrupt than those people he is attacking.

Not only has PKR been running Selangor for the last 13 years, DAP has been running Penang also for the last 13 years. And, just like in Selangor, the abuse of power and corruption in Penang is equally bad. Why does Anwar not talk about this?

Anwar said, “clear government policies would also bring investors back to the country and reduce the number of Covid-19 cases.”

How would bringing investors back to Malaysia reduce the number of Covid-19 cases? So, no need to social distance or vaccinate to fight Covid-19. Just get foreign investors to come to Malaysia. Betul ke?

Anwar has so much advice on how to fight Covid-19. But was it not Anwar who held a joint press conference with DAP and Amanah and asked that the Sabah State Assembly be dissolved to make way for fresh state elections? And is the Sabah state election not one of the reasons for the spike in Covid-19 cases?

Anwar also wanted Parliament to be dissolved in October last year so that a snap GE15 could be held. Luckily Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong did not layan Anwar’s nonsense. If not, today, the Covid-19 problem would be far worse.

But what is most ironical is that Anwar and Najib Tun Razak seem to be having the same narrative. They appear to be reading from the same script. It looks like Anwar and Najib are competing for the post of Opposition Leader. And both are being touted as the prime minister-in-waiting.

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(FMT) – Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has accused the government of using strong-arm tactics by using the emergency to fight Covid-19.

Calling the government “samseng” (gangsters), he said those who criticised the government were being detained.

“Anyone who criticises the rakyat is detained. What is this? A country run by samseng (gangsters).

“They use the emergency not to run the country well but to torture the rakyat,” he said in his special message on Facebook Live today.

The PKR president said the government did not seem to have the capability to ease the rakyat’s suffering.

“Deaths (from Covid-19) are increasing. Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are increasing. Positive Covid-19 cases are up, but testing is low,” he said.

The government, he said, cannot blame anti-vaxxers for the low vaccination rate, adding that during elections, the government was capable of meeting and transporting the handicapped community or the Orang Asli to cast votes.

“Why can’t they transport them to the vaccination centres then?”

Anwar further slammed Putrajaya for promising to carry out at least 75,000 vaccinations a day, which was far from the reality as health officials are only vaccinating 25,000 to 40,000 people a day.

“Why don’t they open more channels to vaccinate?” he asked.

Anwar also expressed disappointment as his friend had died two days ago due to a delay in taking him to hospital.

“We cannot blame the frontliners. They are working so hard. This is a question of planning.”

Citing the situation in Chennai, India, he said there was a Covid-19 war room there with integrated technology platforms to manage the coronavirus.

“They do street mapping to know where the Covid cases are. They have real-time mapping of each street,” he said.

Due to that, Anwar called for a proper exit strategy to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We need the right strategy, but our testing remains low.”

Anwar also called on the government to ease controls on vaccination stating, “Let the rich towkays (bosses) buy vaccines for their family and their staff. Why do we need to control everything?”

Anwar further urged the rakyat and party members to do their part in helping to improve the Covid-19 situation. He urged the rakyat to focus on good governance, the fight against corruption and corrupt politicians, as if they failed to do so, “our country will not be able to move forward”.

He said clear government policies would also bring investors back to the country and reduce the number of Covid-19 cases.