Anwar Ibrahim has accused his former party Umno of being “desperate”, following its most recent attack against him.

Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia had quoted Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as saying that Anwar is a “traitor”to Malays and that he has “twisted the facts”.

anwar sodomy 2 duta court hearing pkr leaders 080709 13 In a statement issued today, Anwar said the Umno leadership is “vigorously spreading propaganda that manipulates symbols of race, religion and royalty with the intention of perpetuating narrow-minded views on communal relations”.

“This is not the first time I have been branded a ‘Malay traitor’. There have been many similar attempts in the past and this latest effort is a clear indication of Umno’s increasing level of desperation,” he said.

Anwar, who was sacked as Umno deputy president in 1998, said he will not be drawn into a personal dispute with Muhyiddin and that he only intends to respond “based on facts and principles”.

“(Pakatan Rakyat) clearly states (that we are committed) to upholding the principles enshrined in the federal constitution.

“These include the status of Islam as the official religion; Bahasa Melayu as the national language, while allowing for the use of other languages; the sovereignty of the institution of the Malay Rulers; the special rights of Malays and bumiputeras; and the rights of all other races as guaranteed by the constitution.”

With this argument, said Anwar, he believes that Pakatan has the right points to rebut what has been said about him.

“We strongly believe we have clear and principled arguments to refute the politics of race and hatred of Umno leaders who abuse symbols of race, religion and royalty simply to retain power and to conceal their own crimes, corruption and abuses of power,” he said.

‘Umno has betrayed Malays’

Anwar said Umno is the one that has been betraying the Malays from the start, as well as the party that had insulted the institution of the Malay Rulers in 1983 and 1993.

“And they were also the ones who scorned Islam by issuing additional gambling licences and selling the nation’s mountains, hills and islands to the same gambling tycoons.

“The Umno(-led) administration is also willing to pawn the interests of the farmers and Malay small traders by selling Bernas shares to foreign companies.”

muhyiddin yassin utusan melayu dikhianati 020609 Muhyiddin had accused Anwar of resorting to deceit to ruin Umno's struggles, by spreading lies to create a negative perception of the special rights of the Malays and the monarchy.

Anwar threatened to initiate legal action against both Muhyiddin and Utusan Malaysia if they did not apologise over the remarks.

Muhyiddin has refused to do so, saying that he “did not lie” when he made the statement.

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