PM denies involvement in Sodomy II

PM denies involvement in Sodomy II

BN yet to decide on Sabah Progressive Party’s fate
Abdullah Badawi facing reporters after the BN supreme council meeting this evening. —

By Shannon Teoh and Adib Zalkapli

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has denied involvement in the move to charge Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the Sodomy II allegations.

"How can I insist that he be charged if there's no evidence? The police are not stupid," he said, in reply to the Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader's allegation that Abdullah was personally responsible for the charge against the former deputy prime minister.

The Umno president also rejected a suggestion that the sodomy allegations against Anwar were an attempt to deflect the public's attention.

"Why should I try to deflect from government problems? They are huge problems. This is not going to deflect from the kind of problems we have," said Abdullah to the press after chairing the Barisan Nasional supreme council meeting here today.

"Let us not forget about another person who craves justice is this man Saiful, You seem to forget Saiful, you think Anwar is more important. This is an issue of law," the prime minister said.

On whether Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the male aide who claimed he was sodomised by Anwar, would be charged if he was a willing partner, Abdullah said: "You better read your law. If it actually was raped then whoever did it must face action. This is a matter for the law; I am not a lawyer so I am not going to get involved. Let's see what happens when it reaches the courts."

He also warned Anwar's supporters not to resort to street protest to obstruct due process of the law. "Why should there be any demonstration. There is nothing to demonstrate."

Abdullah also confirmed that BN would contest in the Permatang Pauh by-election. "The choice of candidate would be decided after consulting the Permatang Pauh Umno division," he added, saying that the candidate would be from Umno.

He also said the BN machinery would be fully activated to face the opposition.

With this he also rejected talk of boycotting the by-election. "This is an election, we have to contest, we have to spend a little bit, and it's the party's fund not public fund. It's the same this time, we want to offer ourselves to represent the people of Permatang Pauh, as the seat is vacant," he said.

Abdullah was also confident of winning the seat despite being the underdog. "Sometimes it is nice to be the underdog."

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who had earlier chaired BN management committee meeting, confirmed that the committee had received a reply to the show-cause letter sent to its component member Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

"The committee had recommended to the BN supreme council for the letter to be studied and if necessary replied in details. We will only inform our decision after we have studied the letter in depth.

"This does not mean we are delaying on purpose or that we have no stand, but we need to give an answer that is comprehensive and solid," he said.

Today's BN supreme council meeting also agreed to the formation of an economic council that would discuss and recommend strategic steps in facing economic challenges.

kzso - underdog?