NY Times Article : Anwar Last Frontier... anything new???

I received this email from my friend WMS. Thanks.

Well here it come again . Over & over again, from France to Australia and New York, dont be surprised if it will appear in JERUSALEM POST in coming days.

If u ask me who's idea behind this article. My answer will be
" Its Stink Like Anwar":





New York Times : Scandals Clound Succession In Newly Unsure Malaysia ( 24/3/2009)


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A slew of political scandals gripping Malaysia and a transfer of power fraught with uncertainty have shaken the elite here, with exquisitely poor timing.
As a major trading nation, Malaysia has been slammed by the global downturn. Its exports have collapsed by nearly one-third, and current projections show that its economy will shrink by as much as 5 percent this year.
Yet the main preoccupation of the government and opposition parties appears to be what analysts say is an increasingly dysfunctional political system. The man in line to become prime minister has been linked to the murder of a Mongolian woman whose body was obliterated with military-grade explosives.
The leader of the main opposition party awaits trial on sodomy charges, in a highly politicized case. The government is using draconian laws to prosecute other opposition figures, and last week it suspended a member of Parliament for one year after he called the prime-minister- in-waiting a murderer. And a state legislature has been paralyzed for six weeks by a dispute over who should govern.
“At the rate things are going, we’re going to be a failed state within a decade,” said Salehuddin Hashim, secretary general of the People’s Justice Party, the largest opposition party.
For Malaysia, an oil-rich country with a large, well-educated middle class, the pessimism may seem hyperbolic. But analysts say the current political woes strike at the heart of the functioning of government, damaging institutions like the royalty, the judiciary and the police.
“I see a rough ride ahead for the country,” said Zaid Ibrahim, the founder of Malaysia’s largest law firm, who resigned as law minister in September over the government’s practice of detaining its critics without trial. “The institutions of government have become so one-sided it will take years to restore professionalism and integrity.”
Much of the anxiety is focused on the rise of Najib Razak, a veteran politician in line to become prime minister sometime after the governing party’s annual general assembly, which starts Tuesday. No date for his ascension has been set, and some Malaysians speculate that the incumbent, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will hold on to power, though he has said he will step down.
Mr. Najib’s supporters say he will reverse the sagging fortunes of the governing party, the United Malays National Organization, and offer decisive leadership, a contrast to the languid style of Mr. Abdullah. But Mr. Najib lacks popular support, and many expect further crackdowns on his opponents if he becomes prime minister. The government already seems to be taking a harder line, shutting two opposition newspapers on Monday while the police used tear gas to break up a rally by opposition leaders in the northern state of Kedah.
In a speech on Wednesday, Mr. Zaid called on the king, Mizan Zainal Abidin, to reject Mr. Najib if the party puts him forward as prime minister, and to appoint someone who would “bring us back from the brink.”
Mr. Najib declined to comment for this article.
The highest-profile scandal to tarnish his reputation is the murder of the Mongolian, Altantuya Shaariibuu, the mistress of Mr. Najib’s foreign policy adviser.
Prosecutors say Ms. Shaariibuu was killed in October 2006 by government commandos who also serve as bodyguards to the country’s top leaders.
Mr. Najib has not been charged with any crime, and he denies having known Ms. Shaariibuu or ever having met her.
According to news accounts, Ms. Shaariibuu had been seeking her share of a commission — the opposition calls it a bribe — worth about $155 million, paid by a French company as part of a deal reached by the government to buy submarines. Mr. Najib, who is defense minister as well as deputy prime minister, handled the submarine purchase.
The huge size of the commission — about 10 percent of the total cost of the submarines — is not being investigated, despite an official acknowledgment by the Malaysian government that it was made to a company linked to Mr. Najib’s aide, who was acquitted in connection with Ms. Shaariibuu’s murder.
Lawyers say the handling of the case has been irregular, and they criticize the prosecution for failing to call Mr. Najib to testify at his aide’s trial.
Perhaps more worrying for the country is the standoff in Perak, a state where since early February the police have barred lawmakers who oppose the governing party from entering government buildings.


PS. I Wonder why this Anwar fella always using the Jews to help him... Anybody?