Anwar campaign undermines Saiful’s Quran oath

SEBERANG JAYA, Aug 25 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s campaign last night brought out the imam who witnessed his accuser’s oath taken on Quran, seeking to undermine the oath and sodomy accusation that have cost the opposition icon votes in his quest to enter Parliament and topple the BN government.

fRamlan Porigi, an imam in a Federal Territory mosque, claimed he witnessed Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s Quranic oath taken a day before nomination day on Aug 16 and it was technically wrong. Barisan Nasional leaders and party workers have been using Saiful’s actions in their campaign to dent Anwar's popularity in his hometown seat.

Illegal bookies say the BN campaign tactics have shortened the odds on Anwar’s victory margin from 5-1 for 20,000 votes to 4-1 for between 10,000 and 15,000 votes. Anwar’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail retained the seat with a 13,388-vote majority in the March 8 polls and anything less than that is seen as a moral victory for BN.

But Ramlan’s confession could help Anwar turn the tide and push his expected majority higher against BN candidate Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah and Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim) president Hanafi Mamat who threw his hat in the ring to make it a three-cornered contest on polling day tomorrow.

Today is the last 24 hours of campaigning with Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat and its allies organising a ceramah in every of the 28 polling districts in Permatang Pauh while the BN continues with its house-to-house visits and smaller ceramahs to gain votes.
But possibly the most damaging statement Ramlan uttered last night against the BN was when he was asked if he thought the oath a conspiracy by Saiful.

“For me, maybe, because it was done on the eve of nomination day,” said Ramlan.
The BN’s campaign to date seems to have focused on discrediting Anwar’s reputation as a moral leader as it screens videos of the oath-taking ceremony which was video-recorded at the FT mosque. The latest word on the street is that the real Saiful landed in Penang yesterday. However, the reports are unconfirmed as no sighting of Anwar’s young accuser, in the flesh, has been made thus far.

-Malaysia Today