Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today said that Anwar Ibrahim should heed “public demand” for him to hand over his DNA sample for the Sodomy II trial.

He said this when asked about demonstrations urging Anwar to volunteer his DNA sample after ‘illegally obtained’ samples by the police were expunged.

NONE “This is what the truth-seeking public wants. Everyone is waiting. If you did no wrong, like me, you can hand your DNA sample to the authorities.

“The issue here is that this is a legal matter and all parties should help expedite the process to find the truth. This is about law, not politics,” Muhyiddin ( left ) told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Anwar's defence succeeded in convincing the Kuala Lumpur High Court to expunge evidence on items retrieved from the lock-up cell where he was held from July 16-17, 2008.

The items are a towel, toothbrush and mineral water bottle. These items were used for retrieval of DNA.

On Sunday, Malay rights pressure group Perkasa and Gagasan Anti-Penyelewengan Selangor had held a demonstration in front of the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya, demanding that Anwar should surrender his DNA sample.

Following this, Anwar’s party comrade turned nemesis Zaid Ibrahim, a former law minister, also asked the former to hand over his DNA sample.

Public will be consulted on nuke plans

Meanwhile, Muhyiddin gave an assurance that there will be public consultation over the government’s nuclear power plans.

He said this when asked about former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement yesterday that his administration had avoided going nuclear because of a “bad experience” .

“Our position is to be cautious and ensure that our energy source is safe. What happened in Japan cannot be predicted.

“The matter is still being studied. There is no definite answer. We must look at various possibilities that can occur in the future. It doesn’t mean we have already made a decision,” he said.

Without elaborating, Mahathir told reporters yesterday that his administration avoided going nuclear because of the “bad experience”.

It is unclear if Mahathir was referring to the 1MW mini-reactor in Bangi, which was commissioned in 1982 and operated by Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research, now called the Malaysia Nuclear Agency.