PM Anwar denies ordering police probe after criticisms of his appointment

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today denied ordering police to probe his naysayers who have been questioning his appointment as Prime Minister by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and advised critics to accept the King’s decision.

In a press conference after a special Cabinet meeting today, Anwar also provided a brief chronology of incidents that led to his appointment, including Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s continued insistence on having secured the majority to be picked for the top job again.

“The Yang di-Pertuan Agong acted based on the available powers in the Federal Constitution to appoint the prime minister. Though Tan Sri Muhyiddin admitted having 115 before the deadline which was fixed for 2pm the next day, nine Umno members retracted, and GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) had given an admission to handover to the wisdom of the Agong to decide.

“Therefore, the number has been questioned and this was notified to the Malay Rulers who decided unanimously to pick a new prime minister candidate.

“So, I feel the time has come to accept this decision and not haphazardly question the powers and wisdom of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. This, however, does not construct other efforts in line with parliamentary democracy to reject others, but to question the validity is not appropriate,” he said.

Anwar stressed that he would not order a police probe against anyone criticising his leadership or the unity government which he leads.

“I want to differentiate. Firstly, it is not the order of the prime minister of the government. This is fixed in the Federal Constitution and the strict statement by the Malay Rulers who remarked on the need to be vigilant towards those playing racial sentiments and religious extremism.

“The order was from the Malay Rulers in abiding with the spirit of the Federal Constitution, and this cannot be equated with criticisms towards the prime minister or criticisms towards the government, and I have never ordered, but in fact informed the Inspector General of Police said that criticisms towards the prime minister of the government in a democratic system is permitted and allowed,” he said, adding that similarly, he will also use the space available to answer his critics, as and when needed.

His remarks appear to be in response to Muhyiddin’s Facebook posting earlier today, in which the Pagoh MP had accused Pakatan Harapan (PH) of seemingly using the police to pressure leaders who do not agree with the coalition, labelling it a “clear attempt at silencing dissent.”

Muhyiddin said that previously, Digital Communications Minister Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil had reportedly claimed that Anwar had ordered the police to investigate Abdul Hadi for accusing Anwar of being an Israeli stooge, but the police later said that Abdul Hadi was not being investigated.

Last month, Anwar issued a letter of demand to PAS’ Baling MP Hassan Saad seeking either a denial of involvement in an allegedly defamatory audio clip shared on Twitter or an apology, failing which he would sue for defamation.

In the eight-page legal letter issued by Anwar’s lawyers, they claimed that Hassan had around November 27 published or caused an audio clip to be posted on Twitter via the Twitter handle “Mohd Ropi Mat Sin”.

Anwar’s lawyers also said that this audio clip was later shared by Twitter user “Pemikir Malaysia”, and that it has since been viewed 431,500 times and shared 3,300 times and retweeted 1,400 times as of today.

The lawyers said the audio clip had carried defamatory claims against Anwar by alleging that he was purportedly in contact with Israel or foreign enemies but stressed that all such allegations are untrue and maliciously made against Anwar.

According to the lawyers, the audio clip has been linked to Hassan, based on his photo that was used as the background image for the clip, and claimed Hassan had yet to deny such links of causing the clip to be published.

Local daily the New Straits Times (NST) reported Hassan as claiming to “have no idea” who was behind the audio clip and declined to comment further.