American leaders have no business commenting on who they think should lead Malaysia, said a member of the US House of Representatives.

NONE “It is none of our business. It would be unfair (for US leaders) to come over and say who they want (to lead Malaysia),” said US congressman Eni Faleomavaega (left) who represents the American Samoa-At-Large district.

The Democrat, who is also amongst the most senior member of his party to sit on the US Congress foreign affairs committee, argued that it is the prerogative of the Malaysian people to chose whom ever they want to lead the country.

Faleomavaega, who was touring the Parliament as part of his visit to Malaysia, spoke to reporters during a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.

In the same regard, he said that democratic development in Malaysia seems to be on the right track.

“It’s going very well... according to how you see it and how you define it, all the better for it.”

anwar ceramah at melaka Faleomavaega’s comments follow recent allegations that certain factions in America dubbed the ‘ deep state ’ seem to favour Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim ( right ) to lead Malaysia, warning that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may be the target of a US-supported regime change.

In a controversial incident, former US vice-president Al Gore on a visit to Malaysia during the 1990s had stood up during a state dinner to shout “reformasi”.

It was seen as an endorsement of the pro-Anwar Ibrahim reformasi movement and he was criticised as being an unwanted interference in Malaysian internal politics.

Gore’s visit was at the height of the reformasi movement which was triggered when Anwar the then-deputy prime minister, was sacked and charged with sodomy and abuse of power.

Asked to comment on the Association of South-East Asian Nation’s (Asean) call for the west to lift their sanctions on Burma following reforms which have seen former political prisoner Aung San Suu-Kyi being elected to parliament, Faleomavaega said the US is keen to continue their engagement process with Burma, albeit cautiously.

He added that the US may begin a process of “normalising” diplomatic ties with Burma, years after severing ties when it fell under totalitarian military rule, with a full ambassador to be dispatched to the nation soon.