Ex-Umno Batu Kawan deputy chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan thanked the government for arresting and sending him to the Sungai Buloh prison in Selangor.

That, Khairuddin said, gave him the opportunity to meet with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“He was downstairs and I was upstairs, and we met every day,” Khairuddin said at a Bersih talk in Penang last night.

He not only met Anwar on a daily basis but managed to have a long chat with the former deputy prime minister, Khairuddin claimed.

The former parliamentary opposition leader is now serving a five-year jail term in Sungai Buloh over a sodomy conviction since Feb last year.

“I would like to grab this golden opportunity to extend, to express my sincere appreciation to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“When the police arrested me and locked me away in Sungai Buloh, I finally met with Anwar Ibrahim,” Khairuddin said, to loud cheers from the crowd.

“There was a lot of planning done between Anwar and me in the prison until we successfully came up with the idea of a Citizens’ Declaration,” he added.

“Thank you to the government. It is a blessing in disguise."

On Sept 23 last year, Khairuddin was arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) for allegedly sabotaging the country.

Prior to this, he was arrested on suspicion of acting to ‘topple the government’ due to his police reports on 1MDB in seven countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, Singapore and China (Hong Kong).

Undeterred by his arrest, Khairuddin wowed Penangites when he said he will continue to fight Najib, and bring him to book over the 1MDB scandal.

“Even if bullets were to penetrate me, or I may be cemented, in the name of our struggle, I swear I will fight Najib until the end, we will arrest him, handcuff him and send him to Sungai Buloh,” said Khairuddin.

He told the people not to be afraid as the truth will prevail very soon. He also said Najib’s days were numbered.

This is in view of several countries, including US, Singapore and Switzerland, initiating civil and criminal action against those involved in the 1MDB scandal.

“Trust me, it's just a matter of time”, he said to loud cheers, adding, “We will handcuff the criminals and lock them away in prison.”

He said he was giving Bersih his 100 percent commitment because its agenda to raise awareness and encourage the people to fight against corruption was “pure”.

He then challenged Najib to lodge a police report against him if he were making false allegations against the PM.

“If he is a man (anak jantan), if I am making false allegations against him, I challenge him to lodge a police report against me, if he is brave. But until today he dare not do it even though I was arrested and imprisoned in Sungai Buloh close to two months,” Khairuddin said.

Staunch supporter of Dr Mahathir

Khairuddin is a staunch supporter of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is now leading the charge against Najib, his one-time protege.

Mahathir and Anwar appeared to have buried the hatchet when they both shook hands in the Kuala Lumpur High Court last month.

In March, Mahathir, former Kedah menteri besar Mukhriz Mahathir and former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin joined hands with opposition leaders and prominent NGOs to announce the Citizens’ Declaration.

Among others, the declaration demanded the resignation of Najib due to his alleged involvement in a series of questionable financial deals.

Organised jointly with Penang-based social reform movement Aliran and human rights NGO Suaram, the event last night heard speeches from Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, Aliran’s Prema Devraj and university student-cum-spokesperson for Serikat Mahasiswa Jefry Musa.

Jefry told Bersih supporters not to rely too much on students as they are burdened with their studies, thoughts of unemployment and how to repay their study loans when they are done with university.

Aliran presented a medley of songs, including ‘Mansuh ISA’, ‘Return to Saudi’ and ‘Where Has All the Money Gone?’ to entertain the crowd.

While Maria explained the impact of the Election Commission’s redelineation exercise on all citizens, Prema urged the public to be patient and do their bit to promote Bersih.

“It takes time, many were disheartened after the 2013 national polls, they asked how come we did not get to Putrajaya?”

“Hey, it is not so easy to get to Putrajaya, and even if Bersih 5 takes place or after the event, it does not mean that all our demands would be met.

“Many are disappointed but I am so sorry, we may even have to go to Bersih 8, but we must tell ourselves, change takes time, we have to keep making demands, say I want a clean government, again and again, don’t get tired and don’t give up.”