King gave me royal pardon because there was ‘travesty of justice’: Malaysia PM Anwar
Mr Anwar Ibrahim also pledged in parliament to push through his anti-graft campaign and not to interfere in judicial proceedings as prime minister.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attending the first parliament session since the 15th General Election (GE15) at the Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 19, 2022. (Photo: Prime Minister's Office/Afiq Hambali)
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told parliament on Tuesday (Dec 20) that he was granted a full royal pardon because the king at the time felt there had been a “travesty of justice”.
In 2015, Mr Anwar was jailed for five years after Malaysia’s Federal Court upheld the guilty verdict in his sodomy case. He was released from prison in 2018 after Kelantan ruler Sultan Muhammad V, who was the king then, pardoned him.
Mr Anwar said he did not ask the king for a pardon, and that it was the king who called him when he was being rehabilitated during his prison sentence.
“The one who took the initiative at the time was the king,” he said during a speech on government spending ahead of next year’s budget.
“He called me when I was at the rehab centre … and said, ‘Anwar, I will give a full pardon because I followed the developments in your trial (and there was) clear travesty of justice.”
Mr Anwar said he also wanted to put on record that he did not agree with the court judgment on his case, as he felt there were breaches in the principles of justice.
This included the use of coercion on individuals to become witnesses and starting investigations before a police report was made.
The prime minister’s comments came after Opposition Leader Hamzah Zainudin brought up in Parliament on Monday an article from an Italian publication alluding to Mr Anwar’s sexuality.
Mr Hamzah urged Mr Anwar to take action against the publication, noting that the prime minister has since received a full royal pardon.
Mr Anwar said on Tuesday he will not repeat the issue, criticising Mr Hamzah for using personal attacks and conspiracies in a “cunning” way.
GETTING RID OF CORRUPTION
Mr Hamzah had also brought up a Bloomberg article detailing how Mr Anwar had picked a “graft-tainted” deputy prime minister in Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is facing corruption charges. Mr Hamzah said this went against Mr Anwar’s anti-graft pledge.
While Mr Anwar did not directly address this point on Tuesday, he stressed that he wanted to move on from questions about the legitimacy of his unity government, and focus on improving how the government works as well as eliminating corruption and abuse of power.
Mr Anwar won a parliamentary vote of confidence in his unity government on Monday, a point that the opposition has continued to dispute.
The prime minister said he has personally reached out to Malaysia's institutions, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Attorney-General and Royal Malaysian Police, to reiterate his mission.
“I said, ‘You are dealing with a new prime minister.’ I mean what I say. I want to clean this country of corruption and misuse of power,” he said.
Mr Anwar said he will not compromise on reforming institutions to ensure good governance, highlighting that investors will only come if they were confident the institutions were transparent and free.
“Why is it that litigation cases involving big companies go to Singapore and before that Hong Kong, and not to our courts?” he asked.
“With that, I say to our judiciary, when I am prime minister, I will not interfere in the judicial process, and they can go about freely and transparently, and they are responsible to the constitution, people and God.”
Mr Anwar also touched on the cost of living, pointing out that many Malays, Indians and indigenous tribes were still living in poverty.
“I will work towards social equilibrium to ensure the poor, regardless of race, will continue to be taken care of,” he said.
BUDGET 2023 TO BE STUDIED AGAIN
Parliament on Tuesday also passed Mr Anwar’s temporary operating budget without debate.
This mini budget allows for funds amounting to RM107.7 billion to be issued from the consolidated fund to meet urgent spending needs.
This includes paying for the salaries of civil servants, utilities, scholarships, welfare payments as well as education services and healthcare, until the federal budget, better known as Budget 2023, is passed.
Mr Anwar, who is also finance minister, said he will retable the federal budget somewhere in February or March next year, highlighting that economic projections for 2023 were unpredictable and challenging.
“Geopolitical conflicts have led to global inflation and a slowing of the economy. Rising commodity and food prices have negatively impacted the cost of living in Malaysia,” he said.
To face this challenge, Mr Anwar said the unity government must uphold the principle of a whole-of-nation approach and that everyone should support the government in formulating a comprehensive approach.
“The very rich and conglomerates with large investments that benefit from rising commodity prices and government subsidies must contribute to the well-being of the people, especially the lower- and middle-income groups as well as small businesses,” he added.
Mr Anwar said good welfare initiatives that benefit the people will continue next year, noting that the temporary budget will cover spending for the first six months of next year.
“Other spending will be studied again during preparations to retable Budget 2023,” he stated.
