BOMBSHELL - TIES THAT BIND - 'REFORMASI' WAS ACTUALLY COINED BY ZAHID AND NOT ANWAR! - IT WAS DONE TO HELP ANWAR, THEN THE DPM, TOPPLE MAHATHIR - 'REFORMASI WON'T SUCCEED UNLESS MAHATHIR IS CHARGED' - BUT ODDS ARE ANWAR WILL FREE NAJIB RATHER THAN CHARGE DR M
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Umno supreme council member Lokman Adam, known more these days for his almost blind support for jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak, unleashed a shocking revelation today,
Lokman, who has been sacked from Umno but now rehabilitated and reappointed to the party's highest council, said it was Zahid Hamidi, the current Umno president who had conned the slogan 'Pemuda Pemangkin Gerakan Reformasi' (youth as a reform movement catalyst) to support Anwar in 1996.
Zahid was then the Umno Youth chief while Anwar was the Deputy Prime Minister and Umno No.2 - and already trying to topple Mahathir, who was then the Umno president and Prime Minister.
"The outspokenness of Umno Youth at the time, we fought against corruption, cronyism and nepotism... and this eventually led to Anwar's sacking," Malaysiakini reported Lokman as telling a political forum last night.
TIES THAT BIND ANWAR, ZAHID & NAJIB
Anwar was controversially sacked on Sept 2, 1998 over corruption and sodomy charges and subsequently jailed for 6 years.
According to Malaysiakini, Lokman was among the batch of Umno Youth leaders who were sacked along with Anwar. Together they banded to found Parti Keadilan Nasional, the precursor of current ruling party PKR, in 1999.
"If you were to ask me, 'Is the reformasi movement a success?' I will say it’s not," said Lokman. "Because reformasi was started to eradicate practices of cronyism, nepotism and corruption under Mahathir.
"But until today, we (the government) are unable to drag Mahathir to court (for alleged corruption) even after 25 years,” Lokman continued,
"So, for me, if we want to gauge the success of reformasi, at the very least we must drag him, charge him (Mahathir) in court."
Lokman's recount unwittingly also reveals how close were the ties that had bound Anwar, Zahid and Najib when they had tried to oust Mahathir, who was closely backed and protected by his own set of cronies that had included former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, Sanusi Junid and Rafidah Aziz.
Not surprisingly, despite Anwar's denials, speculation has persisted he will act sooner or later to facilitate Najib's early release from a 12-year jail term for corruption.
The Umno rumor mill has been running in overtime after Zahid was stunningly granted a shock discharge from corruption charges despite the court having already found there was sufficient prima facie evidence to support a full trial.
CHARGING MAHATHIR
As for charging Mahathir, the police reportedly interviewed Daim a few months after the unity government led by Anwar was formed late last year. There was also talk that some of Mahathir's family members were also hauled up for questioning. But since then, there has been no updates from the authorities.
The question mark remains over whether Anwar really dares or has enough clout to charge Mahathir and his cronies. Although without political power now, Mahathir still wield tremendous influence behind the scenes.
-Politics Now!
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