BERSATU legal and constitution bureau deputy chief Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif has accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of abusing enforcement agencies to “hound” his opponents, with Datuk Radzi Jidin becoming Anwar’s latest victim.
According to Sasha, Radzi’s nightmare began last week on Tuesday (Sept 19) in Dewan Rakyat when Anwar accused Radzi of corruption during the prime minister’s winding-up session of the 12th Malaysia Plan (RMK-12).
“What followed was the spreading of messages online claiming Radzi was involved in corruption concerning J-QAF book printing for preschool, among others,” Sasha was reported as saying by Malaysiakini today (Sept 25).
The J-QAF module is used in primary schools for Islamic education with emphasis on the teaching of Jawi, the Quran, Arabic and Fardu Ain.
Sasha also pointed out that it was too much of a coincidence that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Comission (MACC) arrested the person who served as political secretary to Radzi on Saturday (Sept 23) when he was education minister during Perikatan Nasional (PN) 17 months in power.
“This chronology is important and astounding. It suggests the systematic targeting and hounding by enforcement bodies of political opponents of the prime minister and his political coalition.
“It is irrational, unrealistic and laughable to suggest that the swift and sudden moves by MACC and Anwar’s political allies from Wednesday to Friday against Radzi are unconnected with the bitter spat with the PM on Tuesday,” Sasha said.
Sasha accused the Anwar-administration of initiating criminal investigations against opposition figures to distract the public from the issue of the discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) granted to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“We urge the government of the day to stop this intimidation and fabrication against opposition MPs and to stop abusing its powers by acting in concert with its enforcement agencies to go after those who are not aligned with.
“Anwar and his government must focus on the troubles and plight of the rakyat and create policies to make the rakyat’s life better, and not spend their time in unlawful plots to run down the opposition,” she added.
On Saturday (Sept 23), MACC arrested two individuals, including the former political secretary to a former minister, on suspicion of soliciting and receiving bribes for a RM80 mil project involving a ministry.
An MACC source said the first suspect, in his 20s, is a former political secretary to a former minister, while the second is the owner of a company in his late 50s.
“They are believed to have conspired with the former minister to solicit and receive a bribe, through the second suspect’s company, from a contractor in return for the approval of a book project through direct negotiations,” the source had said.
Radzi said in a statement yesterday (Sept 23), that he and his wife were not involved with the printing of books, nor the companies mentioned in the online messages accusing him of impropriety.
Instead, he accused the MACC of acting upon orders from the top and that the viral messages were meant to damage his reputation. – Sept 25, 2023
Main pic credit: Malay Mail
