A bare-all ceramah in Penang rained allegations down on Anwar Ibrahim’s character, credibility and integrity, in a bid to run down the opposition leader’s ability to lead the nation.

Star attractions Zahrain Hashim and Ezam Mohd Nor - both former mates of Anwar in Umno and PKR - mounted the attack, keeping the 500-strong crowd riveted in the Malay heartland of Kepala Batas last night.

NONE The talk, themed ‘Save Malaysia - This is the real story’, was organised by the Kepala Batas Youth Movement, a Malay NGO in Kampung Paya Keladi Tengah, Pinang Tunggal.

Youths sporting red T-shirts with ‘Umno’ on the back, filled the rows in front of the stage which featured a blood-red backdrop featuring Zahrain and Ezam as the ‘revealers of the truth’.    

Zahrain’s speech alluded to Anwar’s moral character in relation to two sodomy allegations.

“It made me think, ‘If this is the kind of person we are going to have as a prime minister, then we are all dead’,” he said.

NONE He said he began questioning Anwar’s character when he met PKR vice-chairperson and Gombak parliamentarian Azmin Ali’s sister, Umi Halfida, after quitting the party on Feb 12.

Umi was a key witness in Anwar’s sodomy trial in 1998.

“We chatted and she talked to me in detail about Anwar. After listening to her, I could not believe as a Muslim, as a human being, one could have done such things. How can we have a prime minister like this...?” he asked.

NONE Zahrain said “doubts overcame his faith” and he started questioning Anwar’s integrity and credibility as a leader.

The gist of the ceramah comprised allegations that Anwar is ‘two-faced, power-crazy and a habitual liar’, especially in relation to his failure to engineer the takeover of Putrajaya on Sept 16, 2008 as he had pledged to do.

Both speakers urged the people to reject Anwar and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as leaders because both are ‘dangerous and out to undermine the federal constitution’.

The crowd responded with cheers and shouts of Takbir (God is great). Also present were Pinang Tunggal assemblyperson Roslan Saidin and Kepala Batas Umno Youth chief Rizal Merican.

‘I’ll tell all’

Ezam , the former Keadilan Youth chief who is now working with a NGO in Jakarta, repeated his litany of grouses against Anwar.

“I wish to withdraw my defence of Anwar in the past. I have only come to know about him now, I am sorry,” he said, referring to events in 1998 when Anwar was sacked as deputy premier and subsequently charged with corruption and sodomy respectively.

NONE Ezam called on supporters of Anwar - among them Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat - to stop defending him as “one does not know what he is capable of”.

“If they accuse me of lying and challenge me to tell the truth, I will reveal all that I know,” he warned, adding that Anwar and wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail would not dare do so, as they are ‘well aware’ of what he knows about them.

Kepala Batas Youth Movement deputy chairperson Firus Che Man said the ceramah was organised because the community wants to know the “real story behind various events”.

“These stories have not merely been (repeated) in coffee shops, but were raised in Parliament recently,” he told journalists.

“If the response here is good, we will organise roadshows all over Penang.”

The NGO was registered last year and its activities focus on “uniting the grassroots”.