Franchise registrations in Saudi Arabia surge 866% over 3 years    Lulu Saudi Arabia celebrates its 15th anniversary with the grand launch of 'Super Fest 2024'    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Culture minister tours Saudi pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Saud Abdulhamid makes history as first Saudi player in Serie A    Saudi Cabinet to hold special budget session on Tuesday    King Salman orders extension of Citizen's Account Program and additional support for a full year    Al-Falih: 1,238 foreign investors obtain premium residency in Saudi Arabia    Several dead as Storm Bert wreaks havoc across Britain    Irish PM apologizes for walking away from care worker    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Hezbollah fires rocket barrages into Israel after deadly Beirut strikes    Ukraine losing ground in Russia's Kursk region, says military source    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Malaysia's Anwar back to the court
By David Chance
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 07 - 07 - 2009

MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim faces another gruelling trial for sodomy starting on Wednesday that could break his career and which also risks deepening political divisions in this Southeast Asian nation. In 1998 at the height of the Asian financial crisis, Anwar, then deputy prime minister and heir apparent to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, was accused of sodomy and corruption, sacked, tried and eventually sentenced to a total of 14 years in jail.
Today, the world is mired in an economic crisis. Malaysia is burdened with its biggest budget deficit in 22 years, its first major recession since 1998 and a government that has still not come to terms with big losses in the 2008 general election.
Anwar insists the trial is politically motivated and told Reuters he would not roll over. It comes at a crucial time for Malaysia as new Prime Minister Najib Razak, branded a hardliner by the opposition, attempts to introduce reforms in this developing country of 27 million people whose export-driven growth model has run out of gas.
“The trial will be bad for Malaysia and seriously discredit Najib,” said Bridget Welsh, a Malaysia expert at Johns Hopkins University.
“He will be compared to Mahathir and be seen as a weaker version of an autocrat for having to resort to this sort of measure early on to weaken a challenger.”
Anwar's marathon trials in the late 1990s lasted 14 months and saw witnesses change testimony, contradictory medical evidence and bizarre scenes, including a semen-stained mattress paraded in court.
The new trial is scheduled to start on July 8.
Conviction or a trial that exposes the weaknesses of Malaysia's judiciary to international scrutiny once more, may put Malaysia in a harsh light.
“One thing must be made clear, it is my opinion that what we are doing to Anwar Ibrahim is starkly similar to what is happening to (Myanmar's) Aung San Suu Kyi,” Malaysia's former Bar Council Chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan said in a recent lecture.
“I ask, show me the difference between the two. I ask, how can we condemn the latter and do the former.”
It is not just criminal courts that are under scrutiny, rule of law is a key concern for many investors. According to a World Bank survey, Malaysia ranks 63rd of 178 economies in enforcing contracts, a great deal lower than its 24th rank overall.
New political map
The National Front coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years since independence from Britain lost its iron-clad two thirds majority in parliament in the 2008 elections and saw the opposition end up in control of five states.
Since then, it has lost three parliamentary by-elections, including one that saw Anwar returned to parliament. While most political analysts say that it will be hard for Anwar and the opposition to win power in elections that must be held by 2013, the opposition does look as if it is in a position to make further inroads into the National Front's majority.
But without Anwar, holding together the opposition rainbow Peoples Alliance coalition of reformers, Islamists and the mainly ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party (DAP) could be hard.
If found guilty, Anwar could be jailed for 20 years, effectively ending the career of the one opposition politician who has held senior government office and who is the glue that holds the disparate bloc together.
The Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) recently appeared to signal it was again open for talks with UMNO, although it later backtracked.
“If you remove Anwar, who seems to be only person who can bring PAS and the DAP together in an alliance, then I think the chances of them destabilizing the Peoples Alliance increases appreciably,” said Terence Gomez professor at the University of Malaya economics and administration facility.


Clic here to read the story from its source.