Abdullah loses more with sodomy case

AUG 7 — When Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim lashed out at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and accused him of engineering the sodomy charge against him to shore up his frail political position in Malaysia, he was only half correct.

That Abdullah is not in a good spot is without doubt. Only 43 per cent of Malaysians approve of his performance, down from the dizzy heights of 91 per cent when he led the Barisan Nasional to victory in the March 2004 general election, a recent survey by the Merdeka Centre indicates.

He presides over an economy that is slowing; over a population that it deeply polarised along racial and political lines and over a country that is unsure how to navigate the new contours of freedom and space.

But the numbers also show that Abdullah has more to lose than gain by seeing Anwar dragged to court. A dipstick survey of 352 Malays over the weekend showed that 70 per cent of those polled did not think that any benefits will flow to PM even if Anwar was charged and convicted of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Their sentiment is not surprising given the residual suspicion of the Sodomy I case 10 years ago and the systematic manner in which Anwar's camp has managed to paint the fresh sodomy investigation as another attempt to keep him from claiming the top political prize in the country. Never mind that some of his statements have a sniff of hyperbole.

The dipstick survey shows that 72 per cent of respondents do not believe that Anwar sodomised Saiful and 69 per cent would not support the decision to arrest and charge the former deputy prime minister with sodomy.

The sample size of 352 is too small for it to be representative of the thinking of the majority but it gives an indication of the views held by some Malays. Against this backdrop, Umno politicians also know that Abdullah could end up being the big loser when the court room drama unfolds.

A Cabinet minister wondered: "We don't really need this at this time. Why didn't Pak Lah just indicate to the authorities that he did not want this case to proceed.''

Abdullah's supporters said that the PM has tried to keep an arm's length from the police investigation into the case, not wanting to intervene when government officials and Cabinet colleagues complained about the slow pace of the police probe and the seeming disregard by the police for the need to win the public relations battle.

When the Attorney-General's Chambers decided to charge Anwar today, several government officials sighed. They wondered why the authorities summoned him to court a day after the Election Commission had set Aug 26 for the Permatang Pauh by-election. They argued that this would only reinforce the perception that the timetable of the case was being dictated by political considerations.

Would it not be better if the court date was pushed back? they asked. Abdullah listened and appears to have done little else.

A senior Umno official told The Malaysian Insider: "The PM believes that based on the evidence provided, this is the right thing to do. This is not about political points.''

-TMI