KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition party PKR is working to secure the attendance of its de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Parliament sitting on March 9, its secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said.
He said in a statement yesterday the move came after Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia’s announcement that Anwar remained MP pending a decision by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on a royal pardon.
Anwar’s family submitted a petition for the royal pardon at the 11th hour to Istana Negara on Tuesday as it was the deadline to file the application. The pardon is the final avenue to free Anwar, who was convicted of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and quash his five-year jail term.
Rafizi said PKR’s parliament secretariat under Sungai Petani MP Datuk Johari Abdul would get in touch with Pandikar Amin and Anwar’s lawyers to have him to attend Parliament as the opposition leader.
He said that the party in its weekly meeting pledged their full support for the royal pardon.
“We understand this is a personal family decision that is separate from any political consideration, based on his children and wife’s affection for their father and husband.
“This whole charge and conviction against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is politically motivated to stop him and Pakatan Rakyat from getting to Putrajaya,” he said.
He said after Anwar was jailed on Feb 10, the verdict and prosecution were widely condemned by people all over the world.
Attempts by Umno and Barisan Nasional to continue to disparage Anwar would only further fuel public anger towards Putrajaya, he added.
Rafizi urged Putrajaya to concentrate on more pressing problems such as the economy and not channel their energy into defeating their most feared political enemy.
On Feb 10, a five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria found Anwar guilty of having carnal intercourse with Mohd Saiful. The offence was committed in a unit of the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara here between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008. — The Malaysian Insider
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 26, 2015.