KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Deputy Minister Ahmed Maslan has called on the DAP and Pas leaders to publicly defend opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim over the RM3 billion embezzlement charges. He said since PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had chosen to remain silent over the issue, other opposition leaders including Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Hadi Awang should provide “strong evidence or come up with statutory declarations” in defense of Ibrahim. “We don't want empty rhetoric political answers or avoidance from facing the truth,” he said in a text message sent to the New Straits Times newspaper on Sunday. He said if former Bank Negara assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid and businesswoman Ummi Hafilda Ali's statements were true, then Anwar was a great actor for being quick to accuse others of bribery but silent when he himself was accused of the same. “The people's question is, why isn't Anwar implicated in bribery and is this because the RM3 billion is such a huge amount? “I also wonder why, until today, Anwar has not sued Ummi Hafilda, Anuar Shaari and the non-governmental organization, Tibai, which had made the bold statement,” he added. Ummi Hafilda Ali, who resurrected the issue of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's alleged accumulation of RM3 billion when he was in the administration with new evidence, on Thursday evening met the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers to issue a statement against the opposition leader. The case, which originated in 1999, has somehow been resurrected against the politician over his accumulation of a large amount of wealth. Over the past week, at least two key figures in the 13-year-old saga have offered to help the MACC should investigation into the case be reopened. Former Bank Negara assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid, whose statutory declaration (SD) on Anwar's alleged control of 20 master accounts worth RM3 billion — dated Oct 26, 1999, and which ultimately prompted the then ACA to launch probes — in a statement earlier this week, stood by his SD and expressed his willingness to come forward again to assist in investigations. Ibrahim is no stranger to allegations and court cases against him. He has been acquitted of same-sex relations by a Malaysia court recently, on charges his supporters argue are trumped up and being publicized as a new election will be held later this year or early next. “These are ridiculous claims aimed at hurting his popularity ahead of the next elections," activist and Ibrahim supporter, Yussif Gandiri told Bikyamasr.com. Last Wednesday, Ibrahim argued while debating the supplementary supply bill that the total amount of money was nearly 40 percent more than the original allocation in the 2012 budget, specifically pointing to the increase in sugar and toll subsidies as “ensuring the profitability of crony companies." “I am certain in this case, the profit to the crony companies is excessive," the opposition leader said of the RM343 million added to the initial RM446 million to subsidize tolls. He also said that as Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary's Tradewinds is one of two companies that control the local sugar market, the RM367 million added to the RM198 million allocated under the budget was not proportional to the actual increase in sugar prices. “We want to know who actually benefits from these subsidies. They say it's for the public. Show us what are the profits of these companies," the Permatang Pauh MP said. The opposition has previously questioned if the government is handing over the RM198 million allocated for sugar subsidies under the fiscal budget to politically-connected companies after nearly tripling sugar subsidies despite a dive in global prices over the second half of 2011.
