The Malaysian Insight

SAIFUL Bukhari Azlan said it felt good to shake hands this morning with his former boss Anwar Ibrahim, who he had accused of sodomising him years ago.

The independent candidate in the Port Dickson by-election said the sodomy case was in the past and that the both of them were mature enough to be cordial with one another.

“It has been a long time (since we met). It feels good. We are mature enough in this new democratic era; we just said ‘Hi’,” Saiful Bukhari said after he was officially named a candidate in the by-election.

The by-election will see a seven-cornered fight, with Anwar leading the race.

He added that he would not use his torrid experience with Anwar as campaign material.

“My narrative is not about the case. I want to move forward. I do not want to talk about the past.

“The decision for me to contest is not because of a grudge against my former employer. It is not about vengeance,” Anwar’s former aide said.

Saiful Bukhari had, in 2008, claimed he was sodomised by Anwar, resulting in the latter being jailed for a second time for sodomy.

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 Pakatan Harapan captured power in the 14th general election.

The Port Dickson by-election on October 13 was called after its incumbent MP, Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, vacated the seat to allow Anwar to contest and make his return to Parliament.

Saiful Bukhari, however, disagreed with the method in which the seat was vacated for Anwar.

He said it was unacceptable that Anwar was willing to engineer an election just to get one step closer to become prime minister.

“We need a stable government. We cannot have political uncertainty. Someone engineering an election to become prime minister is not good,” Saiful Bukhari said.

He also said that he was not funded by anyone to contest in the by-election, and that he would announce his campaign pledges and manifesto in the coming days.

As for his campaign theme, he said it would be “move forward, ensure stability”. – September 29, 2018.