Anwar the unsinkable

Chua Jui Meng warns BN that prison will not erase Anwar’s political appeal.

Chua, who became a political activist when he was studying law, joined MCA in 1976. He was elected as MP for Bakri (Johor) in 1986 and retained the seat for five consecutive terms. He became Deputy International Trade and Industries Minister in 1990 and Health Minister in 1995.

G. Vinod, Free Malaysia Today

Inside or outside of prison, Anwar Ibrahim will always be a force to reckon with.

That is the view of a lot of people, whether they like or hate the opposition leader. But Chua Jui Meng, who repeated the statement in a recent FMT interview, is an admirer.

“I’ve never seen a man so touched by God ,” said the former health minister who is now a vice-president in Anwar’s PKR.

Some may say that is a tad too effusive, even coming from a comrade in arms. But Chua insisted that he had “seen it all” in decades of active politics. “Anwar is touched by God in a very special way. Despite the persecution he is suffering, he is still as bold as ever.”

One manifestation of that boldness, according to Chua, is that Anwar is never shy, even when addressing a predominantly Malay crowd, of articulating his belief that all races can thrive in Malaysia without anyone having to deprive anyone else. “That’s extremely rare,” coming from a Malay politician in Malaysia, he said.

He cautioned his former colleagues in Barisan Nasional that having Anwar behind bars would be politically detrimental to them.

Imprisoning him on “fabricated charges of sodomy” would only help Pakatan Rakyat win more seats in elections, he said.

“And I believe Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not unintelligent to know that putting Anwar behind bars will make a martyr of him. Remember what happened in 1998. Those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it.”

Chua, who became a political activist when he was studying law, joined MCA in 1976. He was elected as MP for Bakri (Johor) in 1986 and retained the seat for five consecutive terms. He became Deputy International Trade and Industries Minister in 1990 and Health Minister in 1995.

He joined PKR in July 2009, citing Malaysia’s need for a strong two-party system.

Game changer

Chua believes that BN leaders know how strong Anwar’s political influence is and will continue to harass him.

But Anwar would always “bounce back strongly”, he said.

“I always tell the non-Malays that it took 50 years for Malaysia to have a man the stature of Anwar.”

Speaking about Pakatan’s chances in the coming polls, Chua said the government’s crackdown on Bersih 2.0 last July had swung fence-sitters to the opposition’s side.

He dismissed the notion that the hudud controversy had caused a dwindling of support for the opposition bloc, saying that many non-Malays, especially the Chinese, had warmed up to PAS.

“The Chinese and Indians may not support hudud, but they respect PAS’ views on it. They know PAS is a game changer in the current political landscape.”

In addition, Chua said, the non-Malays were aware that it would be tough for PAS to legalise hudud in Malaysia without it occupying two-thirds of the seats in Parliament.

“And Umno should realise that it can no longer use hudud as a spectre to frighten the non-Malays like it did in 1999. People are more politically savvy these days.”

In the aftermath of Anwar’s sacking from the Cabinet in 1998, the Malays abandoned the ruling coalition but Chinese and Indians voters kept BN in power out of fear of racial riots and the hudud provisions of Islamic law.

Chua said the main challenge he was facing as PKR’s Johor chief was to get Pakatan’s message across to the rural areas. “Umno is going all out to prevent us from reaching out to Johoreans.”