Anwar's 'second wife' jest in Moscow embarrassing: Wan Saiful

Summary

• Wan Saiful Wan Jan tells off Anwar Ibrahim for the latter’s ‘second wife’ joke during the prime minister’s official visit to Russia, saying it displayed a lack of cultural awareness given that polygamy is illegal in the country.

• He says that Russian President Vladimir Putin was actually publicly mocking Anwar’s cultural faux pas by revealing their private exchange in a joint press conference. 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent official visit to Moscow has drawn criticism following what is now viewed as an ill-judged remark during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the press conference, Anwar had made a “second wife” joke, prompting accusations of cultural insensitivity and diplomatic clumsiness.

Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan said on Facebook that although Anwar presents himself as a thinker of considerable cultural depth, he appeared strikingly unaware that Russia is an Orthodox Christian nation where polygamy is illegal, and should be “embarrassed”.

Wan Saiful (above) was commenting on the now-viral incident during the press conference in Russia, where President Putin recounted a moment from a private tour of the Grand St Andrew’s Hall.

During the tour, Putin said he had shown Anwar three thrones - one each for the Tsar and Tsarina, and a third left unlabelled.

He then playfully asked Anwar who he thought the third throne belonged to, to which Anwar replied, “for the second wife”, prompting laughter from the Russian delegation.

In response, Putin reportedly remarked. “That is the answer of a true Muslim, a representative of Islamic culture.”

“Anwar ought to be embarrassed,” said Wan Saiful.

“The self-proclaimed expert in world cultures and civilisations seems to be unaware that Russia is an Orthodox Christian-majority country, where polygamy is illegal and historically frowned upon.

“So, Putin seized the opportunity to assert dominance by making public Anwar’s cultural ignorance to the media.

“It wasn’t just a joke. It was a display of who truly held the upper hand in that room. Putin used the occasion to publicly mock Anwar’s cultural faux pas by exposing the folly of Malaysia’s prime minister,” the Tasek Gelugor MP added.

Wan Saiful lamented that the incident made Malaysia a “global laughing stock”.

Mere optics over true substance

Wan Saiful further noted that, to make matters worse, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil claimed that Anwar was the first Malaysian prime minister in two decades to receive full ceremonial honours in Russia.

This was despite the fact that similar receptions had previously been accorded to Anwar’s predecessors, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the late Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Wan Saiful said.

“There’s a pattern here. This is a government that obsesses over optics but fumbles the substance. A leader who reminds the world of his intellectual pedigree but finds himself making offhand jokes about polygamy in a country where the practice is prohibited legally and stigmatised.

“To top it off, Putin threw Anwar under the bus by revealing what was said in private, and letting the world laugh at our prime minister’s expense.

“One would expect more gravitas from a self-declared Renaissance man. After all, the Renaissance was about reason, reflection, and dignity, not cultural faux pas.

“For someone who has spent decades positioning himself as a global statesman, Anwar has been reduced to a court jester in Moscow,” Wan Saiful added.

He said that while Malaysia walked into Moscow seeking respect, the nation walked out with Anwar turned into a “punchline of a press conference”.

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