Sodomy 2 Ruling Creates New Excitement

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
8th March 2014

The buzz is all over town. And most probably outside of the country too. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has been found guilty by the Court of Appeal of sodomising Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

The High Court acquitted him of the charge in January 2012, but the Attorney-General appealed. Now it looks like Anwar’s luck has run out. The famous Sodomy 2 case has caught up with him this time.

The judge has sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. Although Anwar’s lawyers have straight away filed notice of appeal to the Federal Court, his conviction should disqualify him from standing in the upcoming Kajang by-election, which had come about when the incumbent state assemblyman, Lee Chin Cheh, stepped down to actually pave the way for Anwar to contest – as part of the so-called Kajang Move engineered by PKR strategist Rafizi Ramli with the long-term view of possibly making Anwar menteri besar in order to prepare Selangor as the launchpad for Pakatan Rakyat to take Putrajaya.

What happens to that now?

Rafizi explained that Anwar was needed in the Selangor administration to save it from being surreptitiously ousted by BN, as what happened in Perak in 2008. He also said Anwar would be able to help make Selangor a model state and prove Pakatan worthy of taking over the federal government. With Anwar no longer able to play saviour and lead the charge for Putrajaya at least for now, will the outlook for Pakatan in Selangor be dim? What about its prospects for the next general election (GE14)?

More pressing – since nomination day is next Tuesday – who will replace Anwar as PKR’s candidate in the Kajang by-election? Who can the party field to ensure that it retains the seat?

The talk is, Rafizi could be the one. He is well-liked and highly intelligent. And he has been riding high since he helped blow the whistle on the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal.

But perhaps an even more winnable candidate would be Nurul Izzah Anwar, MP for Lembah Pantai. She is winsome, also highly intelligent, and, like Rafizi, among the new breed of politicians who exude industriousness and sincerity. Above all, the fact that she is Anwar’s daughter will merely add grist to the mill.

Indeed, Anwar’s conviction will not be doing BN any favours even if it’s only too gleeful about locking him away; it will only make things worse for the coalition at the Kajang by-election. If PKR was hoping to win by a bigger majority, it looks pretty certain of getting it now. In fact, it will probably win by a landslide. Even the average Malaysian is saying that even if PKR were to field a nobody, it would still win hands down.

We have been through this before, we have seen how Anwar’s first sodomy conviction in 1999 affected voting patterns in the general election held later that year. The effects would be even more pronounced in a small by-election.

Imagine also what a powerhouse Anwar would be campaigning for the PKR candidate replacing him in Kajang. He was already being greeted like a rock star during his recent pre-campaign ceramahs; what will his status be when he does the rounds after nomination day?

Some people are even saying that BN’s candidate, Chew Mei Fun, might lose her deposit.

To be sure, when the campaigning starts, her coalition will bear the brunt of the public’s anger at the rising cost of living and the Government’s maladministration, and the poor woman will have to take much heat. Now she can count on the anger against Anwar’s conviction to raise the temperature even higher.

The fact of the matter is, Malaysians no longer believe that Anwar is guilty or care if he is truly so or not. His sodomy trials have come to be perceived as nothing but political stunts orchestrated by nefarious BN who are unable to take on Anwar fair and square and have therefore to resort to underhanded tactics.

Many have been sickened by these tactics, like my old friend who called me right after the court ruling came out and expressed his utter disgust. “This is what they wanted to do to him,” he said, “and they’ve done it.”

What will happen to Anwar in the longer term?

If he loses again at the Federal Court – which seems a likely scenario – he will have to go to jail and therefore lose his parliamentary seat of Permatang Pauh. His political career will be over.

Pakatan Rakyat will have to find a new Opposition Leader and regroup. If no leader arises among them to emulate Anwar’s ability in galvanising PKR, the DAP and PAS, Umno will make more intense overtures to PAS to get them to cross over for the sake of Malay and Muslim unity. If BN fails, its chances of survival at GE14 – assuming it will be fairly run – may be slim.

Anwar’s plight may still be a factor at GE14 – the flame of anger against his Sodomy 2 conviction may still burn strong – but, again, this is more likely to be so if the Pakatan pact holds together. Anwar, on his part, will try his best to drag out his Federal Court appeal as long as possible so that he will still be remembered during GE14. But with the law prohibiting a convicted person from being involved in politics until five years after the end of his sentence, he will not make prime minister if Pakatan wins Putrajaya. Unless perhaps he gets a pardon from the King. And even then …

So, the possibilities are … well, to borrow a catchline from an advertisement about Mongolia, almost endless. And this has come to pass because of the Court of Appeal’s ruling on Sodomy 2. It has made politics in Malaysia even more volatile and exciting, more dramatic than soap opera. In the coming days, more excitement is expected. Let’s see what can create even more buzz than today’s event.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the new book The Elections Bullshit, now available in bookstores.

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14 Replies to “Sodomy 2 Ruling Creates New Excitement”

  1. The gist of what this whole argument is this – “They” say Anwar is gay and enemy of their politics, so they, used to ends-justify-the means to get their end is therefore justified. The other side of the argument is that They don’t have proper evidence and its about justice in a world that that must no longer be used to ends-justify-the-means.

    Its really goes to the core of the argument of what kind of nation we want to be. Anwar is reformist means-to-our-ends – the other side on the hand says their end is the end and any means is justified.

    So if reformist truly mean what they say they want, its really time to express it. Because, just like back when the whole movement first started, its about reform, and Anwar merely the symbol..

  2. As long as Perkosa-UmnoB/BN rule dis land, AI will always b dealt with
    After Sodomee II n serving his jail sentence, AI (even though an old man of 70+ after release fr d current jail sentence) most likely will b charged with Sodomee III some time after 2020
    Even when he is jailed, some X-r@ted h@rd core seksual escapades involving AI (or is it AI-look alike?) will surface
    Déjà vu
    Honestly, AI might as well b a P0RN star, fr a loser 2 a winner, LOL (rather than letting his look alikes reap all sorts of benefits fr his enemies)

    NOTE: Any1 who looks like AI, sounds like AI should thank @lLAH 4 d unik gift n can approach najis, MMK n Perkosa-UmnoB/BN 4 a lucratif employment/job

  3. Our government… teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. ~Louis Dembitz Brandeis

  4. Perkosa-UmnoB/BN gomen spent so much energy n time over AI’s case, no time 2 make sure MAS operates properly
    Now, an MAS flight carrying 239 people fr KL 2 Beijing went missing early Saturday
    Prayerfully, no major mishap n all passengers r safe n sound

  5. Perkosa-UmnoB/BN gomen spent so much energy n time over AI’s case, no time 2 make sure MAS operates properly
    Now, an MAS flight carrying 239 people fr KL 2 Beijing went missing early Saturday
    Prayerfully, no major mishap n all p@ssengers r safe n sound

  6. UMNO, for all it is worth, may have just signed its own death warrant. The court’s verdict is the harbinger of things to come and may sound the death knell for its ultimate demise sooner than expected.

    The killing off of Anwar will make him a martyr. Anwar knew all along what was coming and expected of him. He has taken upon himself to face the whole government machinery and bear the full brunt of the draconian law used against him and yet, still, keeping the trump card closed to his chest. Perhaps, this is what is needed to bring the Rakyat together to rid this nation of the corrupted UMNO-led government.

  7. Those who laugh below and are in stitches with derision over Anwar’s conviction should be forewarned: God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.

    Politicians and judges bear heavy burdens of responsibilities. For them, every twiddle of a finger, every twitch of a toe is watched by God above.

    And watch the sparks fly when God consumes them in the lake of eternal fire and damnation.

    God will have the last laugh.

  8. I am really really happy that they time the sodomy trial JUST RIGHT ON TIME!. There is a feeling on ground zero that real life fatigue (increase of good price, water rationing…etc) has taken over the furora of dissatisfaction of the government. I had asked a ah soh in klang about the election voting and her answer is as long as she has time AFTER getting water from syabas dispatch truck!

    This trail will re vigorise the interest to vote for the government in wait.

    I am very surprise that BN do not foresee this, but then again, why should i be surprise? It is a BN trade mark!

  9. Saiful make a police report and examined by doctor 56 hours after the “raped”.. Saiful did not defecate (dispose his shit) for 56 hours because he want to keep the “evidence” inside is super anus … Can an ordinary healthy man on the street do that? Can you control your bowel movement for 56 hours while you are still alive? It is just lke a pregnant woman try to prevent the baby from coming out after 9 months 9 days of pregnancy and wait for 2 more month because the Feng Shui will be better on the 11th month., or a hen delay laying egg for 56 hours? .The Question is Can an ordinary man prevent /freeze bowel movement for 56 hours….. Perhaps UMNO lawyer Safee and the 3 court of Appeal judges can do that… … But not ordinary healthy living man can do that!

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