KUCHING: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s planned “fierce movement” starting with a rally today to reform the country’s electoral system and challenge the results of an election he lost is viewed as an action of a spoilt child.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Masing said Anwar threw his tantrum because he did not get what he wanted.
“I can’t understand why Anwar refuses to accept defeat with honour like the rest of those who were defeated in the just concluded 13th general election. I think he is embarrassed at being caught lying, telling foreign media, prior to the 13th general elections that he would be the next prime minister.
“So he is looking for an excuse for his presumptuous and false prediction,” Masing told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
He added that urban voters were so desperate to be in Putrajaya that they were blinded to what the BN government had done for them over the years.
“This obsession to be in control of Malaysian political landscape blinded them to human decency of saying “thank you”.
“The rural folk thank God, still maintain this human touch and hence they don’t bite the hands that feed them. Therefore, obsession to control must not deprive us from being descent human beings,” added Masing.
Masing was commenting on Anwar’s plan to hold a rally today as he refused to accept the victory of Barisan Nasional (BN) in Sunday’s election, saying that the result was tainted by widespread fraud, including the use of foreign immigrants to vote for the BN.
“Tomorrow’s (today) rally “will be the beginning of a fierce movement to clean this country from election malpractices and fraud,” the 65-year-old former deputy prime minister told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The rally is planned to take place in a stadium with a capacity of about 40,000 people in Selangor state near Kuala Lumpur, which is retained by the opposition in state polls.
Anwar said the opposition had ample evidence to challenge the election result in up to 29 seats – enough to call into question the overall national result.
Meanwhile, state BN secretary-general Datuk Stephen Rundi said Anwar should trust the fair and transparent elections run by the Election Commission (EC).
“We in the BN believe that this is part of their pan to discredit the EC, make it the scapegoat as they failed miserably to occupy Putrajaya. They should respect the people’s wishes and decisions and help in the government to develop the nation,” added Dr Rundi.