Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by Barry Wain (fantasy novels to read .TXT) 📕

On 12 August, Daim approached Anwar and informed him that Attorney General Mokhtar had told him that Anwar was to be charged that morning with sexual misconduct, Official Secrets Act offences and possibly treason. Anwar stormed into Dr. Mahathir's office and demanded an explanation. After listening to him for a while, Dr. Mahathir called Mokhtar on the phone and told him to delay the charges. "Wait for my clearance," the prime minister said.[47] In public, however, Dr. Mahathir and Anwar maintained the pretence that nothing was amiss between them, though Anwar was forced to deny rumours that he would resign. Dr. Mahathir said in an interview, "Do I have to kiss him on the street before people will stop saying there is a rift?"[48] In one appearance together in Penang, Anwar professed his loyalty and love for Dr. Mahathir, whom he described as "a teacher" and himself as "a mere student".[49]

Dr. Mahathir toured the country, visiting all states, supposedly to explain the economic problems directly to the people, but in reality shoring up his own popularity and preparing the public for "drastic" and even "shocking" measures to follow. He was aided by souring relations with Singapore, a periodic occurrence, which enabled Dr. Mahathir to resort once again to "bristling nationalism", as a Singapore newspaper called it, and drape his leadership in the flag. An unexplained blip on 28 August was the resignation of the governor and deputy governor of Bank Negara, which was, in fact, their way of protesting the economic policies about to be adopted. On 1 September, with no public objections by Anwar, the government introduced capital controls.

If the unorthodox economic programme sent shockwaves through the region, what happened next was a political earthquake. At 12:15 p.m. the following day, 2 September, Dr. Mahathir told Anwar: "Resign or be sacked with grave consequences." Responded Anwar: "I'm innocent and I'll have to expose your conspiracy."[50] At 5:30 p.m. he was handed a letter dismissing him as deputy prime minister and finance minister, and his office was sealed. No reasons were given for his removal in the brief announcement that evening by Bernama, the national news agency.

But events the next day, 3 September, indicated the extent of the forces ranged against Anwar and how far they were prepared to go to put him out of action. In the morning, the prosecution in the case against Nallakaruppan produced four affidavits in court to support a decision to hold him at police headquarters instead of transferring him to a prison outside the city. For the most part, they were unrelated to the offence with which he was charged, possession of 125 bullets. Rather, one police affidavit outlined statements by seven unidentified witnesses, including a man who claimed he was sodomized 15 times by Anwar and a woman who alleged she was paid RM350 by Nallakaruppan after having sex with Anwar. There were also references to a driver who had been asked to fetch Chinese, Mexican, Eurasian and women of other races for illicit sexual activities, two women who rejected Anwar's advances and a third who reportedly said she discussed politics after having sex with him. According to the affidavit, police had received a complaint that Anwar had tried to seduce the wife of a businessman, when the couple were in Anwar's delegation on a trip to Washington. The affidavit said Nallakaruppan, who was believed to have access to national secrets through Anwar, frequently accompanied Anwar abroad and "his activities could be exploited by subversive elements in and out of the country which could jeopardize national security".[51] In another affidavit, Mokhtar, the attorney general, reaffirmed that the police investigations involved national security. If there was prima facie evidence, "Nallakaruppan and/or the national leader could be charged in court under the country's laws".[52]

While the judge, Abdul Wahab Patail, adjourned the hearing to consider a defence submission that the affidavits were irrelevant to the proceedings, he refused a defence request that the affidavits be embargoed pending his ruling. He said they had been filed and were therefore public documents, a legally defective decision that made a farce of his adjournment to consider the admissibility of the affidavits. Affidavits filed in court usually become public documents only after they have been read in court or when the trial is over. The Malay Mail, an afternoon paper, packed them into a special edition that day, while the major dailies splashed them across their front pages the next morning. Normally staid and squeamish, the Malaysian press repeated every lurid detail of the alleged sexual misdemeanors, corruption, intimidation of witnesses and possible sedition in what a "very concerned" Malaysian Bar Council called "a breach of the rules of natural justice and fair play".

Nallakaruppan's own statements — categorically denying the accusations, alleging police brutality in detention and attempts to get him to sign false confessions incriminating Anwar while being threatened with a charge carrying a mandatory death sentence — were swamped to the point of being almost invisible. Having served to stain Anwar's reputation, particularly among conservative Muslims, most of the scurrilous allegations were abandoned, never to be mentioned again. Anwar subsequently was prosecuted on charges of corruption and sodomy. While consensual sex between males had been decriminalized in many countries, it remained a serious offence in Malaysia, punishable by 20 years imprisonment and caning, though seldom enforced. Homosexuality was not defined in the Malaysian Penal Code, instead being described by reference to "unnatural offences" deemed to be "against the order of nature".

On the evening of 3 September, a specially convened session of UMNO's Supreme Council voted to expel Anwar from the party. Before the meeting, members received faxed copies of the police affidavit against Nallakaruppan.[53] Not that any of them could have been unaware of the details, for the country was talking about little else. In Dr. Mahathir's version, the council's decision was unanimous, but Anwar said only five of the other 40-odd members clearly supported