The Malaysian Insight

SAIFUL Bukhari Azlan took his first swipe at Anwar Ibrahim today, saying he was not fit to lead Malaysia, or even Port Dickson for that matter.

The former aide, who went on to accuse Anwar of sodomy in 2008, said in his experience, the former deputy prime minister was a bad manager.

“Personally, this is not about vengeance. I know Anwar. I know his weaknesses and strengths. He is not fit to lead the country,” Saiful told The Malaysian Insight today on the sidelines of the campaign trail.

“Anwar is all over the place. He is not a good manager. He only talks a lot. I have experience working for him.” 

Saiful said Anwar was being “selfish” by jeopardising Pakatan Harapan’s hard-earned victory in the 14th general election to realise his dream of becoming prime minister.

“He hasn’t even made it into Parliament yet but he is already talking about cabinet reshuffling. Everyone is affected. 

“That is how selfish this politician is. It is like we have two prime ministers now. You cannot have two tigers on one hill.”

Saiful is contesting as an independent candidate in the Port Dickson by-election against Anwar, as well as former Negri Sembilan menteri besar Isa Samad, air force veteran Mohd Nazari Mokhtar (PAS) and three other independents. 

The 33-year-old added that Anwar should feel guilty for engineering a by-election and troubling Malaysians when only five months had passed since GE14.  

“If he was a capable and moral person, he would feel guilty about what is happening in Port Dickson. People have to realise the history behind the person. 

“When he becomes PM, he will make a lot more mistakes,” he said.

Saiful added that even Anwar’s own family members did not want to give up their seats for him.

He said he wanted go against Anwar, not because he was paid to do so, but was against the move to let him contest a parliamentary seat.

“This is mainly not because of Anwar but because of his actions. Whoever did this kind of things, we cannot condone. 

“There is nobody behind me, there are no political figures behind me. It is not a conspiracy.”

The father of two said it was up to the voters to believe him or Anwar over the sodomy case.

“It is about public perception. Humans choose what they want to believe. I maintain my stand and principle. They can judge me when they meet me here,” Saiful said. 

In 2008, Saiful accused Anwar of sodomising him and lodged a police report after a meeting with then deputy prime minister Najib Razak.

He subsequently testified at trial that he had kept Anwar’s semen in his anus for three days before lodging a report, which eventually led to the PKR leader’s jailing.

Anwar had always maintained his innocence and that he was a victim of a political conspiracy.

In May, Anwar was pardoned by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong soon after PH captured power in GE14. – October 2, 2018.