Sabahans have nothing to gain from associating with PKR, which will have no representation from the state or Sarawak in its top leadership once it is done with the party elections, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin claims.

Taking advantage of the controversy-riddled PKR elections, which are drawing to a close, he questioned the party’s credibility in claiming that it represented Sabah’s interests when not one leader from that state was a front-runner in the contest for the posts of vice-president.

NONE “At the top of the race is the daughter of the de facto chief (Anwar Ibrahim), Nurrul Izzah, followed by (PKR election director) Fuziah Salleh, then Tian Chua, Penang deputy chief minister Mansor Othman, (Padang Serai MP N) Gobalakrishnan and Sivarasa (Rasiah, Subang MP),” he said last night at an event in Taman Po Hing, Batu Sapi.

“They claim that if they come to power, Sabah will have one deputy prime minister, but not one Sabahan is even close to the top of their vice-presidential list. Ansari (Abdullah, PKR’s Batu Sapi candidate) is down at the bottom of the vice-presidential race.”

Khairy, who is Rembau MP, argued that Umno has shown it is ready and more than willing to accept Sabahans in its top ranks, as proven by the election of Mohd Shafie Apdal as a vice-president last year.

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman was also elected to the supreme council with the second-highest number of votes, he said.

“As you can see, we in Umno appreciate Sabahans. Sabah is in the mainstream in Umno. Even in the government you see many Sabahans who are holding high office.

“You have Sabahans serving as the attorney-general, the speaker of Parliament, a senior police officer, and you have (Kinabatangan MP) Bung Moktar (Radin)... it was a Sabahan who ‘caught’ (celebrity) Zizie (Izzette),” he said, to laughter from the 100-plus strong crowd.

‘Anwar is a schemer’

Earlier, Umno Youth exco member Lokman Adam declared that Anwar is an eloquent schemer.

NONE Recounting his time under ISA detention as a member of the ‘Reformasi Six’ in the early 2000s, the Keadilan founding member alleged that it was Anwar who had ‘coached’ them into losing a lot of weight to imply that their detention was under inhumane conditions.

“Every morning, they gave us bread with strawberry and pineapple jam. If you have that every morning in jail, you will come out fat,” he said, to the crowd’s amusement.

“We decided to forgo the jam and only take the bread, and for lunch and dinner we did not take rice. We only allowed ourselves rice once a week.

“Every morning I ran 8km and in the evening I ran 4km, and I also played badminton... in six months, my weight dropped from 120kg to 79kg and when my picture came out in (PAS organ) Harakah , people started talking about what they were doing to me in detention.

“This is NONE how Anwar (left) taught us to deceive. If a glass is filled with water, give Anwar half-an-hour and he will convince you that the water is syrup.”

Lokman admitted that he had not believed Anwar’s first sodomy charge in 1998, but that he has doubts about the current charge.

He said the complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had taken up the challenge by PAS spiritual adviser Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat to swear the truth on the Quran.

“Why has Anwar yet to declare his innocence by the Quran? ...” he asked.