Not the cops' duty to get set of MPs backing me, says Anwar after an interview at police headquarters
18 October, 2020
Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday (Oct 16) that it's not the police’s duty to get the list of parliamentarians backing him to create a fresh government after he emerged from a Bukit Aman interview.
He also clarified that he previously presented letters from the heads of parties backing him during an ending up in the king earlier in the week, and not a list containing the Members of Parliament (MPs) who are with him.
Talking with reporters, Mr. Anwar said: “The six cases against me was basically requesting the names of those in support of me to be disclosed."
“I told them (the authorities) that I've already given the verification letters from the president of every party representing their parties to the king. I told them that it is my duty to provide (the letters) to the king and it is neither the work of the authorities nor the house Minister who ordered the authorities to have the names,” he stated.
He added that the contents of the letters are between him and the king.
“I am not here to cooperate with political masters to get or give their names since it isn't their business. It really is between me and His Highness the King,” he said.
He also said that this was a bout of "political harassment".
Mr. Anwar’s counsel Ramkarpal Singh said he's being investigated under Section 505B of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Multimedia and Communications Act.
If found guilty of Section 505B, the offense carries a prison sentence of up to two years, an excellent or both.
For Section 233, those found guilty are prone to an excellent not exceeding RM50,000 (US$12,000) or imprisonment not exceeding twelve months or both. Those found guilty are also prone to a further fine of RM1,000.
On Sep 23, Mr. Anwar claimed that he had the support of greater than 120 MPs and added that the Perikatan Nasional government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had fallen.
He had, following his ending up in the king on Tuesday said that the monarch will be contacting party heads for input and to confirm the documents submitted by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president.
However, Istana Negara said on Tuesday that Mr. Anwar didn't produce a set of names of those backing him through the royal audience.
Mr. Anwar said on Friday: “In my own statement (on Tuesday) when you can recall, I said I presented letters and documents. I have never said names were presented.
“For Parti Keadilan Rakyat, as the PKR president, I said 38 members hereby present support for Anwar. I never said names."
Asked about a timeline on when he would be presenting the list of names to the king, he said “it hasn’t been raised but it has been managed”.
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