Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim on the nose in graft scandal

The PM insists he remains committed to fighting corruption despite allowing graft charges to be withdrawn against an ally.

Anwar Ibrahim after securing the prime ministership last November. Picture: AFP

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has denied claims he has abandoned his own anti-corruption agenda by allowing dozens of graft charges to be dropped against a key ally, as dissatisfaction with his unity government mounts from both the political left and right.

Amid plans by the political opposition for mass protests this weekend, and a rising sense of betrayal among former supporters, Mr Anwar sought to distance himself on Wednesday from ­former attorney-general Idrus Harun’s decision to drop 47 graft charges against Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO party chief Zahid Hamidi.

Mr Zahid was granted a “discharge not amounting to an ­acquittal” by the outgoing ­attorney-general this month despite the chief prosecutor – who also just recently retired – having successfully proven there was a case to answer.

Mr Anwar has insisted he played no role in the decision, though the move had been widely predicted as the likely price for the scandal-tainted United ­Malays National Organisation joining forces with his reformist Pakatan Harapan coalition to form government after last ­November’s elections.

“He said; ‘Sir, this is an issue of my conscience’, and he gave me the facts,” the Malaysian leader told a plenary session at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore late on Wednesday, referring to Mr Idrus. “I said, ‘Can you support this?’ He said yes.”

The explanation has convinced few Malaysians, however, many of whom now fear the next step will be a pardon for jailed former prime minister Najib Razak, who remains a powerful UMNO figure despite currently serving a 12-year prison term.

Najib and Mr Zahid were among a group of UMNO leaders charged with corruption over the misappropriation of more than $US4.5bn from the 1MDB state development fund after they were voted out of government in 2018 on a wave of public outrage over the scandal.

Only Najib has so far been convicted of any offences. He still faces numerous charges of corruption and abuse of power, though Malaysia’s appeals court this week upheld an earlier acquittal for audit tampering in the 1MDB scandal after prosecutors let the deadline pass for filing documents.

Mr Anwar conceded on Wednesday the decision reflected badly on his administration but insisted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had found no evidence of graft against any member of his government since it took office last November. “That to me is ­important,” he said. “Yes, there have been cases that happened in the past … the issue of corruption is endemic, systemic. If I want to take that up it will involve so many others. But what is important is that we are starting a fresh, new system.”

Corruption is not the only issue upsetting Malaysians, however, with a swag of policy announcements by the Anwar administration designed to pander to Islamic conservatives.

While Anwar supporters have pointed to the need to counter a new so-called “green wave” of voter support for Islamic candidates, others have suggested the argument is a straw man to justify working with graft-tainted UMNO.

“They’re trying to scare people and make it about the lesser of two evils,” one former Anwar associate and supporter told The Australian.

“This is what happens when you really, really want to be PM and you have to compromise on basic principles. We are all just watching on in horror.”