Conspiracy fears in Malaysia as opposition targeted again

Agence France-Presse - 7/17/2008 8:32 AM GMT

The timing of sodomy allegations against Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim has raised suspicions of a conspiracy, coming shortly after he emerged as an unprecedented threat to the government's 50-year rule.

The 60-year-old opposition leader had only just mounted an astonishing political comeback after his downfall a decade ago when he was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges.

After wresting a third of parliamentary seats in March elections, his ambitions of seizing power with the help of government defectors have been stalled by the allegations he assaulted a 23-year-old male aide.

Despite agreeing to submit to police questioning, he was arrested Wednesday by commandos in balaclavas who swooped on his car near his home, and held overnight in dramatic scenes criticised as an over-reaction.

"The latest developments indicate we are moving towards a police state," said Param Cumaraswamy, an adviser to Anwar and a former UN special rapporteur on legal issues.

"It is no doubt a little difficult for a political party that has been in power for 50 years to have such a large opposition in parliament now. I think they are fearful of losing power," he said.

"Whatever is happening, it is very counterproductive to the government. It is certainly not going to put the government in a positive light."

The March elections have redrawn the political landscape by establishing an opposition with a real chance of unseating the mighty Barisan Nasional coalition, made up of parties that represent each of Malaysia's races.

It has threatened the very existence of its lead party, the United Malays National Organisation, which represents the rights of Muslims who dominate the population, in a country also home to ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

Anwar has said he will cast aside race-based politics and, with the help of Barisan Nasional defectors, create a new administration free of the corruption and cronyism that has become rampant at all levels of society.

With so much at stake, the timing of the new accusations against Anwar is extraordinary.

But Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Thursday rejected the conspiracy allegations and said Malaysia was well aware its reputation was at stake.

"We are now under international pressure because of the various allegations, so we need to be careful in what we do," he said, dismissing Anwar's actions as a ploy to create sympathy at home and abroad.

"(Anwar) has created some negative perceptions. He has strong supporters in the international arena, he has conditioned the mind of the people that he is going to become prime minister and that we are going to stop him," he said.

Cynicism towards the government is running high and the Merdeka Centre research firm said its surveys found that just one in 10 Malaysians believe the allegations against Anwar.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, many citizens have lost their faith in the judiciary and police which the Barisan Nasional has been accused of using for its own ends during the long years in power since independence from Britain.

"There is a significant amount of public scepticism over the allegations towards Anwar, and also whether or not the case is genuine or if it's politically motivated," said Merdeka Centre pollster Ibrahim Suffian.

However, he said that the mass protests which greeted Anwar's arrest a decade ago are unlikely to be repeated since the elections gave the opposition a more prominent stage to air its views.

"The Malaysian public has matured a lot since 1998," he said. They may not come out on the streets but they may certain use their vote differently."