PM advises youth to stop defending corrupt leaders

Summary

• Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim advises youths to stop defending leaders involved in corruption.

• He denies claims that he is out for revenge.

• Anwar remains coy when asked if he will reveal details of the Pardons Board meeting that commuted Najib Abdul Razak’s sentence.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today advised youths to not occupy themselves with trivial matters such as defending important figures involved in embezzlement and corruption.

Anwar said while he and the government were addressing corruption, the opposition was criticising them using the Malay race and Islam as excuses.

The prime minister said some even claimed that he was being vengeful towards certain individuals.

“Don’t be preoccupied with something so trivial as defending embezzlement, even defending it vigorously.

“I offended important people, billionaires, over corruption - but many voices in the name of Malays, in the name of Islam, defended these important people who were corrupt.

“Angry, (they said) I hold a grudge... What grudge? You stole billions, give it back to the people,” he said while opening the 73rd annual general meeting of the Malaysian Youth Council at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar added that the people he referred to had extraordinary wealth, including assets stashed abroad.

Keeping mum

Meanwhile, he refused to speak further on the royal addendum instructing former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to serve the remainder of his prison term under house arrest when met by the media after the event.

Asked if the government would reveal details of the Pardons Board’s meeting which commuted Najib’s sentence from 12 years’ jail and RM210 million fine to six years and Rm50 million, he merely nodded.

“Didn’t you hear the speech?” Anwar said.

Previously, his principal political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin suggested making the Pardons Board’s meeting minutes public to provide answers regarding the royal addendum.

However, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa, a member of the Pardons Board, said the meeting details would remain confidential.

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