MalaysiaKini : Abdullah Sani Haji Said, who has been the driver to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for the past 28 years, suspects someone or some group of trying to sabotage his boss's car with the ultimate aim of trying to hurt or even kill Anwar.
News of his chilling report sent shivers down the spines of millions of Malaysians who have seen their country ravaged beyond recognition in the past 3 years by a ceaseless cocktail of sodomy, sex and now sabotage politics.
Abdullah, 51, lodged a police report against attempted foul play at the Merchant Square station in Petaling Jaya at 3pm this afternoon. The car in question is an old although in good-condition Mercedes S350, which is frequently used to ferry Anwar and his family around.
In his report, Abdullah specifically mentioned an accident that happened on April 19.
It was late that night and he was driving Anwar's wife and PKR president Wan Azizah and Faekah Husin, political secretary to Selangor Menteri Besar, to a PKR function in Chemor, Perak when a lorry overtook them, forcing him to slam hard on the brakes.
But the car not only slowed, it shook violently and soon, the sound of a loud explosion came from the back of the car. Somehow, he managed to steer the Merc to the side of the road. It became completely immobile and had to be towed away. When Abdullah looked around, he saw broken pieces of brake disc strewn all over the road that they had travelled.
Later on, his mechanic told him that a caliper-guide bolt-pin that supports the disc brake had been removed.
"I was told that i! t is imp ossible for the bolt to come off without someone removing it. Based on what the mechanic told me, there are also elements of sabotage, considering that the vehicle is regularly used by Anwar," Abdullah said in his report."The car was in good condition when we started driving it and since it is also impossible for the bolt to come off without someone removing it, I believe that someone did this deliberately to hurt or kill Anwar Ibrahim."
He has attached a copy of the testimony from the mechanic with the police report. There have also been other instances and smaller accidents that he brushed aside until the mechanic's report confirmed his growing suspicion.
Meanwhile, although shaken, PKR leaders said they were not surprised and many had even expected some sort of "move" such as this against Anwar.
"I am not surprised by this sabotage. There is a culture of political lawlessnes taking root in our country which is mainly caused by the inflammatory actions of Umno and the BN and newspapers like Utusan. The BN leaders' conduct encourages extremists," PKR vice president N Surendran told reporters.
Lawlessness and sabotage
Indeed, the 63-year old Anwar is no stranger to sabotage. He has been thrown into jail where he had to spent 6 years in deplorable conditions that created permanent injury to his back. If not for full glare of the international press during his incarceration over fabricated sodomy charges in 1998, many political veterans believe he would been killed off in jail.
"News like this is always surprising to me because while you think badly of people, you never expect them to be really so bad. But analysing the history, I guess it is something many of us have always warned about and that's the truth. In 1998, they dared to give him a black eye," says Eddie Wong, a PKR veteran.
"In 2008, they dared to replay the whole sodomy drama. They didn't care whether people believed or not, they just! did it. There really is no respect for law in this country anymore."
Eddie was referring to the physical beating personally dealt out to Anwar, who was then the deputy prime minister, by former Inspector General of Police Rahim Noor. This was done at the police lockup where Anwar had been detained during the first round of sodomy charges levelled against him by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad. The federal courts only dared to acquit Anwar in 2004, months after Mahathir retired.
After he was freed, Anwar spent years getting his back treated and is still a patient requiring regular phsyiotherapy and medication. That has not stopped Prime Minister Najib Razak from launching a second wave of sodomy charges against his political arch rival. But the latest trial has proven to be just as rickety as the first, only shaming the country and deterring investments without really denting Anwar much.
Reverse effect
Those who doubted his popularity and political resilence were reminded of his charisma, when despite all odds, Malaysians somehow still chose to believe in Anwar rather than Najib over the by-now infamous Datuk T sex video scandal.
No amount of snippets leaked onto YouTube could silence the enthusiastic cheers each time Anwar gave aceramahor political lecture and slammed the BN for their "dirty tricks".
In fact, the sex video actually helped PKR and the Islamist PAS party to regain their shine, with the overly blatant gutter-politicking pushing fed-up members of the Malay community over to the Pakatan side.
Magnificient gains by Pakatan partner DAP and also PKR itself at the recent Sarawak elections caused further panic. Historic wins by the opposition in pro-establishment Singapore was another reason for Najib and the Umno elite to get flustered.
"The plan in Umno seems to be to jettison everything and everyone - just focus on the Malay v! ote. The y just want to secure as far as possible all the Malays. This is their area of the battle now," PKR vice president Tian Chua told reporters.
"They don't care about the non-Malays, the further the Chinese and the Indians go away from them, the better. It is too late for the reforms they want, Najib has dilly-dallied too long. Umno can only rely on emotion and racial and religious emotions are the strongest. This is why you get absurd dramas like the Christian state, mosque oath-taking, bullet-proof vests. But our feedback on the Malay ground and also that from the PASmarkasis that the Malays are disgusted. It is too much to digest and they are vomiting Umno."
Stay away from helicopter, small plane rides
But within Umno itself is a long-standing leadship vacuum of its own making. Its ruling elite comprising family members of the founding leaders are quick to cut off any new blood that tries to get onto the top tier. Through the years, the party has become a very tiny and factionalised old-boys club.
Sensing this, Malay talent has opted to join the ranks of PKR, PAS and DAP rather than Umno. Whether Najib admits it or not, under him, the Umno brand name has sunk to its lowest level since independence from colonial rule in 1957.
"There is no one to take over from Najib. He can't do a thing and everybody knows it. Muhyiddin has his own baggage and may not be palatable to the Najib and Mahathir families. The thing is that Anwar is from Umno and the darling of the grassroots in 1998. Even Mahathir couldn't challenge him and that's why we had Sodomy I," said Eddie.
"Anwar doesn't talk about his Umno roots anymore because he has his own PKR party now, and there is no question of him re-joining Umno. But when you look at the Malay community as a whole, you find that there still isn't anyone but Anwar. And this will be why his car may get sabotaged. If I were him, I wouldn't take helicopters! and sma ll charter plane rides."
