Anwar back in jail but problems mount for Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: The biggest political threat to the Malaysian government is behind bars after a court upheld a sodomy conviction for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but more thorny problems confront Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Anwar, jailed for five years on Tuesday on a charge he called politically motivated, has for years represented the greatest challenge to Najib’s coalition, which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.

The bespectacled former finance minister and deputy prime minister cemented a three-party opposition alliance which took on the coalition at the last polls in 2013, costing the ruling bloc the popular vote in its worst-ever electoral performance.

Deserted at the polls by ethnic minority Chinese and urban voters, Najib’s party will now face the fallout of sharper polarisation over Anwar’s jailing, amid widespread perceptions that his prosecution was motivated by political vengeance.

“There’s something rotten about the whole thing,” said former cabinet minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. “It’s not good for the country and democracy, never mind Najib.”

“Even to prosecute Anwar for these kind of affairs is just unreasonable, it carries such a heavy sentence,” he added.

The government denied interference in Anwar’s case.

While Anwar’s jailing could bolster Najib’s standing among hard-liners at home, foreign investors are likely to be alarmed at a time when Malaysia is facing sliding oil and gas revenues.

The United States was “deeply disappointed” with Anwar’s conviction, which “raised a number of serious concerns about rule of law and the fairness of the j udicial system”, said US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.

But more damaging for Najib than foreign reproach over Anwar is likely to be criticism at home of his leadership, especially from within his own party.

“He has put the opposition challenge away for a couple more years, but his immediate problems are from internal critics and it will probably get worse,” said Ibrahim Suffian, the director of the Kuala Lumpurbased research firm Merdeka Center.

Unfortunately for Najib, his biggest critic is former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who led Malaysia for 22 years until 2003 and remains inf luential.

Najib is a self-described moderate who came to power with reformist plans. The more conservative Mahathir has made no bones about what he thinks of Najib’s premiership.

Last year, in a savagely critical blog post, Mahathir said he was withdrawing support from Najib. This month, Mahathir said there was “something rotten in the state of Malaysia” and openly questioned Najib’s handling of the country.

“If you don’t perform and people say you’re no good, please resign,” Mahathir told news portals.

“As for Najib, I don’t know if he is performing.”

Najib has quietly set aside his liberal agenda, dashing hopes for social reform and the scrapping of old security laws used to stifle dissent.

But it is not only Najib’s leadership that his critics have questioned. His personal life has come under scrutiny amid reports of his family’s lavish spending.-Reuters