Anwar's arrest
Anwar's arrest
The only unexpected thing about the arrest of ousted Malaysian
deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was that it happened sooner
than he had predicted. It was effected on Sunday evening, only
hours after he had led tens of thousands of supporters through
the streets of Kuala Lumpur demanding the resignation of Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Anwar was right when he said that Mahathir might use
Malaysia's draconian Internal Security Act to arrest him on
allegations of sexual misconduct and leaking official secrets.
But he predicted that the arrest -- despite his denial of all the
charges -- would take place after Britain's Queen Elizabeth II
had ended her four-day state visit to this peninsular country on
Wednesday.
Thousands of Anwar's supporters gathered at Freedom Square in
the capital on Monday to protest his arrest, shouting "Long Live
Anwar, Mahathir resign". Hundreds of the protesters clashed with
riot police, who fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse the
angry crowd.
Monday's gathering, the biggest demonstration of public
disorder in Malaysia in three decades, obviously reflects the
public dissatisfaction at the government's unfair treatment of
the deposed deputy premier. Anwar had been systematically
discredited by the Mahathir administration, as well as by most
local media -- which are largely controlled by the state.
The move to push Anwar out of office, which he calls a
political conspiracy against him by those who oppose his views on
corruption, cronyism, corporate governance and human rights,
began with the publication of the book 50 Reasons Why Anwar Can't
Be Prime Minister in June of this year.
It stands to reasons that Amwar's supporters, the majority of
whom are from the younger generation and long for better and more
democratic leadership, protested his arrest and it came as no
surprise when dozens were apprehended in Monday's show of
solidarity.
These arrests came shortly after a number of Anwar's aides
were detained after Mahathir sacked his former prime minister-in-
waiting from his dual posts as deputy premier and finance
minister.
The public disturbances at a time when the country is
receiving a state guest who has come to Kuala Lumpur to close the
16th Commonwealth Games are, obviously, a disgrace for Mahathir,
who tried to tone down the incident as a "minor distraction".
Given the growing demands of the people, which are clearly
shown by the enthusiasm of Anwar's supporters, Mahathir should
learn from Indonesia that he cannot avoid taking responsibility
for the economic crisis currently blighting the country by
diverting the Malaysian people's attention to the Anwar
"indecency" case. Besides, a worsening economic and political
situation could trigger more massive and more violent
demonstrations that could lead to his downfall, as happened to
former Indonesian president Soeharto, whose 32 years of
authoritarian rule crumbled in the wake of student protests and
bloody riots.
As a prominent Indonesian Moslem leader who has spearheaded
the reform movement, Amien Rais, said on Monday that arresting
and "prosecuting Anwar could backfire on Mahathir" and cause his
downfall.
"There are some similarities between Mahathir and Soeharto.
Mahathir has been in power for such a long time," Rais commented,
adding that a reformist struggling to improve Malaysia will
eventually prevail.
Amien has a point here considering the similarities between
Soeharto and Mahathir. Soeharto's administration was tainted with
corruption, nepotism and cronyism, as Mahathir's is now.
Mahathir, like Soeharto, has ruled unopposed for years (17 to be
precise), making him less receptive to rising demands for
political and economic reform from the younger generation of
Malaysians as they cope with the challenges of the globalization
era.