KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers have demanded Singapore respond to a WikiLeaks’ revelation that regional intelligence agencies believe Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had committed sodomy, claiming that it was a “high-level conspiracy” implicating both the Malaysian and the island republic’s Special Branch police.
They also want an explanation on leaked US State Department cables which reported Singaporean senior government officials as saying that Malaysia’s “decline” was due to “incompetent politicians.”
“With WikiLeaks’ revelation, it looks like Singapore is undermining its relationship with Malaysia. Whether or not the leaks are entirely accurate, what remains clear is that Singapore’s relationship with Malaysia remains dubious, to say the least.
“PKR will be sending an official letter to the Singapore High Commissioner tomorrow, demanding an explanation on both issues. The Anwar expose as well as Singapore leader’s remarks on Malaysia,” said PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang (picture).
Anwar used Twitter today to dismiss a revelation by WikiLeaks that Australian intelligence believes he engaged in sodomy, claiming the source was Malaysia’s Special Branch police.
The opposition leader did not take calls to comment on Australia’s The Sun-Herald report but responded via his Twitter micro-blogging account when queried.
“Source? Polis SB Msia. Bukti tak ada (Who is the source? Malaysian police special branch. There is no proof whatsoever),” Anwar replied.
In an earlier reply, the former deputy prime minister wrote, “Source? Msian SB ha ha”
“The leak shows that Singapore has questionable motives in the Malaysian political-economic situation. The way they have condemned Malaysia is as if they have deliberately placed negative aspersions on our country.
“Definitely, this may well affect our relationship with Singapore,” Chua told The Malaysian Insider.
He also said that PR MP were currently considering raising an emergency motion in Parliament this week on the matter, as it affected “national interests.”
The WikiLeaks’ leaked information were published in two major Australian news publications today — The Sunday Age and The Sun- Herald. The expose in the Sunday Age disclosed discussions between senior US officials and their Singapore counterparts Peter Ho, Bilahari Kausikan and Tommy Koh.
All three Singaporeans gave damning assessments of Malaysia. The discussions between the Singaporean and US officials took place in 2008 and 2009. These officials were also less than complimentary about Malaysia’s prime ministers, past and present, with one of them calling Datuk Seri Najib Razak “an opportunist”.
PKR state assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad reiterated Anwar’s claims that the Malaysian Special Branch was involved in spreading allegation that he had been lured into a “sex trap”, saying that it was the surest sign yet that Anwar’s persecution stemmed from a conspiracy at the highest levels.
“What is more shocking is the fact that the leadership of the Republic of Singapore has chosen to partake in this deception by deliberately spreading disinformation to an Australian intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments (ONA).
“We must ask why the Singaporean intelligence services chose to collude with Malaysia’s Special Branch in spreading such lies about Anwar. The fact that Australian Members of Parliament, along with other members of the international community have been questioning the independence of the persecution of Anwar heightens such suspicions,” said the Seri Setia assemblyman in a statement today.
Nik Nazmi also questioned the credibility of the source for WikiLeaks, saying that the information was essentially collected by a third party and contained all levels of information, including hearsay, and are therefore “far from reliable.”
“I hope the ‘technical intelligence’ mentioned in Wikileaks could be revealed to the public since that was the basis that the Singaporean intelligence claimed led to their conclusion.
“At the end of the day, the current campaign of persecution and vilification against Anwar is no different from the first: both rely on the abuse of the judicial process and only the reliance of flimsy medical evidence by the persecution. This, if nothing else should prove that this case is politically motivated and engendered by a conspiracy at the highest levels,” said the PKR man.
PAS MP Khalid Samad cautioned Malaysians against forming a conclusion that Anwar had committed sodomy purely based on the WikiLeaks expose.
"I think it shows only a very preliminary level of communication from one party to another. It could even be just hearsay.
"The level of credibility of the documents are questionable," Khalid said, and pointed to another leak earlier this year naming two Malaysians were involved in a nuclear arms case, which the authorities have cleared.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's got no bearing on whether the information is true or otherwise," said the Shah Alam MP.
Khalid reminded that the sodomy trial was still ongoing and that it would be subjudice to comment further on the case.
The PAS lawmaker however added that Singapore's senior government officials' views of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak were "justified."
"It's a completely justified opinion I think," said Khalid, referring to Singapore's officials describing Najib as an "opportunist".
"I think he's a very competent politician in terms of playing the game," he added, and pointed to the various government "transformation" policies Najib has introduced since taking over from Tun Abdullah Badawi.
The Shah Alam MP advised Malaysia against taking a hard line government-to-government approach that could hurt diplomatic ties.
"That statement, they're just telling it as it is. Malaysian politicians have said bad things about Lee Kuan Yew too," he pointed out, naming the island republic's founding father who now holds the post of Minister Mentor.
"I wouldn't recommend Malaysia take on Singapore just because of that and jeopardise the relationship between Malaysia and Singapore," Khalid told The Malaysian Insider.
