MCPX

leader Anwar Ibrahim and has vowed to give him “full support” in his leadership, said its information chief Tian Chua.Indeed, there was no need for Anwar to clarify to party leaders yesterday when the claim emerged that he had sodomised his aide Saiful Bahri Bukhari Azlan.

“We do not need the clarification. When we met yesterday, all (PKR) supreme council members took the decision to give all confidence in Anwar. We also took the stand that the recent issue (raised) is an attack made in bad faith against the party.

“We, from the grassroots to the top leadership, have vowed to give our full support and belief in Anwar,” said Chua at a press conference at Quality Hotel in Shah Alam.

The press conference came a day after a police report was lodged by Saiful, a 23-year-old who had volunteered to campaign for PKR around the time of the March 8 general election.

Saiful claimed in his police report yesterday that Anwar sodomised him “in a condo in the Damansara area”.

Anwar has rejected the accusations against him – the second time in 10 year – and described it as a “complete fabrication”. PKR also claimed that Saiful was arrested and forced by the police to lodge such a report against Anwar.

Please stay calm, supporters told

Despite the attack against the dignity of Anwar, Chua urged members and supporters not to take actions that go against the laws and regulations.

“We also call on our supporters to stay calm and carry on our work professionally and with discipline,” he said.

Arriving 15 minutes into the press conference – to shouts of “reformasi!” that resounded throughout the hotel – PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the family was also solidly behind Anwar.

She also spent several minutes showing reporters the picture downloaded into her mobile phone that showed the alleged victim posing with an aide of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at the latter’s office in Putrajaya (photo below).

“I think it’s (self-)explanatory,” she said, alluding to claims that Saiful (photo below, left) had been ‘planted’ in PKR by quarters within the government.

Azizah said she was also reminded what had happened to Anwar following his dismissal from the government and his arrest under the ISA in 1998.

“When he was detained the last time, he was beaten to a pulp! So you must take it into consideration. It is serious! This matter is serious!” she asserted.

Repeating the party’s stand that the recent development indicated the second political conspiracy to thwart Anwar’s political aspirations, Azizah said they were not taking chances of placing Anwar in the hands of the police or in the legal system.

This is especially so following the failure to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission four years after it was proposed, as well as the revelations of judicial wrongdoing by the Lingam tape saga, she added.

“A lot of people, a lot of Malaysians seek the leadership of Anwar, and so we have to protect him. Not only is he my husband and the father of my children, he is a leader of our country,” she said.

‘He was with us that night’

Deputy PKR president Dr Syed Husin Ali, meanwhile, said there is no need to respond to such heinous allegations as what has been raised by Saiful.

“If it’s a fabrication, why do you want to respond? They don’t deserve the response,” said Syed Husin.

Also present was Azizah’s daughter Nurul Izzah, who barely veiled her irritation with one journalist when asked where Anwar was the night he was alleged by Saiful to have committed sodomy.

“He was with us! I think you should listen to the statement first before asking such questions,” she snapped.