Flashback then & now shows Anwar's 'confusion' - trying to please Islamists at home & US big boys abroad
Written by Finance Twitter
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Here’s The Wall Street Journal Article – Anwar Supports All Efforts To “Protect Security Of The State Of Israel”.
Flashback to an article published by the Wall Street Journal in January 2012.
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he isn’t worried about state prosecutors’ move to appeal a court decision acquitting him of sodomy earlier this month, and said he remains confident it won’t derail his campaign to lead a new government to power in elections expected later this year.
“The judgment (in the sodomy case) was very strong” and “difficult to appeal” – Mr. Anwar said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal at his political party’s headquarters here Thursday. He said the appeal process, which began January 20, would likely take at least six months, meaning it could loom over and outlast the election campaign.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has to call an election by March 2013, but under Malaysia’s parliamentary system of government, many analysts predict it will be called much sooner, triggering one of the most fiercely fought electoral contests this resource-rich nation has ever seen. Mr. Anwar said he believes the election is unlikely to take place later than June.
Anwar Ibrahim and Najib Razak - Teh Tarik
Since the Jan. 9 verdict by a High Court judge – who acquitted Mr. Anwar of violating Malaysia’s strict sodomy laws citing a lack of witnesses and flawed DNA evidence – the 64-year-old opposition leader has begun mobilizing support in this multiracial country, promising reforms to dismantle a decades-old affirmative-action program designed to give a leg up to the majority ethnic-Malay population while also targeting what he describes as widespread cronyism in Mr. Najib’s government. If elected, Mr. Anwar said he will accelerate privatizations and do more to enable free markets to operate more efficiently, such as improving transparency in the bidding for government contracts.
Mr. Najib, 58 years old, is also keen to brand himself a reformer in part to win back ethnic-Chinese and Indian voters who in recent years largely have thrown their support behind Mr. Anwar’s opposition alliance. Mr. Najib has also embarked on a series of sales of government assets to spur growth. Earlier this month, a government state investment fund sold its stake in car marker Proton Holdings Bhd. to conglomerate DRB-Hicom Bhd., and last year government-linked funds swapped shares in state-run Malaysian Airline System Bhd. with budget airline AirAsia Bhd.
“The overall principle is that we want the government-linked companies to sell off their noncore and noncompetitive assets,” – Mr. Najib said in an interview two weeks ago. “We are always looking out for how to add value to the country.” Mr. Anwar, though, criticized the way Mr. Najib’s government pursued these privatizations, saying that without open, public tenders, key companies remain controlled by a well-connected few.
Najib Razak in Prison - Seeking House Arrest
Privatization “looks good, but look again at the procedures,” – said Mr. Anwar. “The issue is not about privatization, it is blatant corruption.” Following the Proton deal, state investment fund Khazanah Nasional said in a statement that it chose the best suitor for the job and the country.
A Malaysian government spokesperson said Thursday the government is “fully committed to openness and transparency in all privatizations and divestments of state-owned assets and to tackling corruption wherever and whenever it is found.” The spokesperson noted that Malaysia has introduced a new online database of government contracts so that anybody can alert authorities to any potentially improper actions.
“We are determined to ensure that all government contracts are awarded through a process that is fair and open to scrutiny,” the spokesperson said. After being embroiled in the sodomy trial – which he claims was politically motivated – Mr. Anwar is now shifting gears from defending his reputation to fighting to win an election.
Once a high-ranking member of the United Malays National Organization that has run Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957, he was sacked from the party and lost his post as deputy prime minister after challenging former leader Mahathir Mohamad in the 1990s. He was subsequently charged for sodomizing his driver and his speechwriter, and spent six years in prison before his conviction was overturned.
After leading the opposition to one of its strongest-ever showings in 2008’s national elections, Mr. Anwar was accused by former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan of sodomizing him, setting in train another marathon, headline-stealing trial which Mr. Anwar again said was designed to end his political career. Mr. Najib and his government have repeatedly denied having anything to do with the case.
Now, after Judge Zabidin Diah acquitted Mr. Anwar, ruling that the forensic evidence presented against the opposition leader was flawed, Mr. Anwar argues that he isn’t just “anti-UMNO” but has his own set of policies geared toward restoring Malaysia’s competitiveness in a global economy where countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia are emerging as alternative magnets for investment.
Israel-Arab Six-Day War Ends - Total Israel Victory - Newspaper
“We must always compare Malaysia to Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan,” – said Mr. Anwar. “That’s what we were.” If elected, Mr. Anwar said he would speed up the removal of racial quotas for university places and focus on helping lower-income groups regardless of race instead of solely aiding ethnic Malays. In the interview, Mr. Anwar also clarified his position on homosexual rights and Malaysia’s sodomy laws, and also the Muslim-majority nation’s relationship with Israel.
“I support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel,” said Mr. Anwar, although he stopped short of saying he would open diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, a step which he said remains contingent on Israel respecting the aspirations of Palestinians. Malaysia has consistently refrained from establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, although limited commercial ties exist between private companies in the two countries.
In response to recent local reports that he supported gay marriage, Mr. Anwar said they were wrong and that he “believes in and supports the sanctity of marriage between men and women.” The opposition leader is suing government-linked newspaper Utusan Malaysia for defamation, alleging that it implied he supports and wants to legalize homosexuality. Still, Mr. Anwar said that Malaysia’s sodomy laws are “archaic” and could be amended. “It is not my business to attack people or arrest people based on their sexual orientation,” – he said.
Anwar Ibrahim - Supports Palestine and Israel?
Back to November 17, 2024, just a few days before the 2-year anniversary of Anwar-led Unity Government, formed between Pakatan Harapan and rival-turned-ally Barisan Nasional after the November 19, 2022 General Election which produced a hung parliament, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is mad and furious – even panicked – when pro-Palestine activists and opposition leaders have expressed shock and anger at his stance recognising Israel’s right to exist and to “defend itself”.
In a recent interview on the Israel-Palestine conflict with CNN’s Richard Quest, Anwar was asked again whether he accepted Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself. He answered “yes” to both questions, consistent with his stance about 12 years ago when he was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Earlier, when Anwar was asked whether he condoned the Hamas attacks on Oct 7, 2023, he said it was a consequence of Israeli aggression throughout the years.
Trapped with his own desperation – and greed – to champion the Palestine and Hamas terrorists in order to look good in front of Malay-Muslim voters back home, and at the same time not to offend the United States and Israel in order to rub shoulders with the big boys at the international stage, narcissist Anwar now looks terribly hypocritical and contradictory.
Israel-Palestine Conflict - Supporters Waving Flags
Exactly how could he accept Israel’s right to exist and its right to defend itself, but at the same time foaming at the mouth promoting himself as the hero who vocally condemned the Jews state’s violence, colonialism, cruelty and genocide that killed 50,000 innocent Palestinians (never mind not a single Hamas terrorist has died in the Israel-Hamas war)?
In fact, Mr Anwar is rallying support for Israel to be expelled from the United Nations. But how does that work when he told the WSJ (2012) and now CNN (2024) that the so-called barbarian Jews have the right to exist as well as the right to defend itself? Perhaps he can show how Israel should defend itself if not through military retaliation after attacked by his terrorist brothers Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar.
If Israel has the right to defend itself from the beginning, then the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has the right to launch airstrikes and ground offensive since the Gaza war began. Anwar has to remember how the Palestinians celebrated, praising Hamas and dancing on the street following the Hamas attack on Israel. It was only when Hamas started to lose the war that they screamed genocide and whatnot.
Hamas Yahya Sinwar - Child Jihadist
True, he can argue that Israel can exist without diplomatic recognition by Malaysia. But he cannot support his Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Palestinian supporters who said at the same time that Israel has no right to exist because the Jews state was founded on genocide, oppression and the innocent blood of the Palestinian people, as Anwar likes to whine and bitch.
The best part is, despite Anwar’s anti-Israel policy, he hypocritically defended his decision to allow a company owned by BlackRock to buy shares in national airport operator MAHB (Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd). In January 2024, BlackRock announced that it would acquire the investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for US$12.5 billion, which in turn would acquire a 30% stake in MAHB.
In May, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and EPF (Employees Provident Fund) announced that a consortium had been formed with BlackRock’s GIP and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to take publicly listed MAHB private with an offer price of RM11 a share. The deal becomes juicy – and controversial – as BlackRock holds significant investments in Israel.
BlackRock - Stock NYSE
Not only BlackRock was a big investor in companies that arm the Israeli defence forces such as Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and General Dynamics, but its fund in Malaysia – MSCI Malaysia Equity Fund – holds a substantial equity in hundreds of Malaysian corporations. Gullible critics obviously had no idea the breadth and depth of BlackRock’s involvement in Malaysia.
Anwar has to make up his mind whether Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian land. If they didn’t, then the Jews state has the right to exist and its right to defend itself, which makes the war in Gaza justifiable as it was Hamas who started the war. In that case, the premier should criticize Hamas rather than Israel for not only using human shields, but also for bringing a trail of destruction to Gaza. Hence, Hamas militants are terrorists, not freedom fighters.
However, if Anwar believes in Israel’s illegal invasion and occupation of Palestinian land, then he can’t say the Jews state has the right to exist, let alone the right to defend itself. In that case, the premier should stop BlackRock from taking over national assets. In the same breath, he should avoid rubbing shoulders with any American leaders, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, unless of course, he has started sucking up to President-elect Donald Trump.
Written by Finance Twitter
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