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Interview with Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
By Kazi Mahmood
26/03/2001
The road was clear and the Malaysian style bungalow house in Bukit Damansara seemed empty. It was not being closely watched, as many people in Kuala Lumpur would suggest.
Yet, I was extremely careful, remembering the time I had interviewed a rebel padre on the Island of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. I had the same feeling of being observed - although everything seemed quiet.
Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail does not have the greed and intolerance that personifies too many South East Asian politicians. She has remained, after the almost three hectic years in which her life has been turned upside down, a family-centered person who still cares very much about the future of her husband, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and their children.
Since the swift 1998 revocation and jailing of Ibrahim, Malaysia has seen the creation of its newest political party, the National Justice Party (NJP).
The country appears to be benefiting under the leadership of a woman - something no one would have expected before. She is determined and resolved to fight for justice and democracy in Malaysia, and is in local politics to make a difference, she told Islam Online.
In the same house where heavily armed and masked commandos arrested her husband, I interviewed the Datin (title given to top officials in Malaysia), inquiring about an issue that has remained unsolved since he went to jail. I asked Wan Azizah what she thought of the accusations that Anwar wanted to sell out Malaysia to the Americans.
The Malaysian government made the economy its battle horse during the 1999 general elections, and it appears that they won them on that basis. The National Front (NF) coalition had accused Anwar of being responsible for the high interest rates that were threatening to jeopardize the economic independence of ethnic Malays.
Several CEO's have said in past interviews that they supported the NF against Anwar due to his economic policies, which seemed to be biased in favor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Wan Azizah told IslamOnline (IOL) that the only way to refute these accusations, which she insisted were unfounded and baseless, was to refer to the numerous speeches made by Anwar while he was Minister of Finance and the Asian representative in the World Bank (WB).
"Anwar Ibrahim criticized the World Bank and the IMF for their stringent economic pills imposed as pre-conditions to their loans. He said during a World Bank meeting that some of the conditions imposed by the WB and the IMF were bad and did not help the poor."
In the same breath, she also said that Anwar Ibrahim had strongly advised the Malaysian government during the 1997 economic crash to safeguard the interest of the public in general.
"He advised the government to take steps that would be prone to help the needy. Those people whom no one would dare talk about and fight for. That is what Anwar Ibrahim tried to do."
The opposition leader rejected the idea that Anwar wanted to sell out the country by tying up its economy with the IMF, although she admits that there are some benefits in the IMF precepts. "Not all the IMF recommendations are bad. Some are good. What Anwar did was to look at the good side of the IMF."
Wan Azizah also said that it is purely the propaganda of government supporters that Anwar's policies caused interest rate hikes and resulted in expensive bank loans. Rather, the Malay currency had dipped to its lowest ebb ever and the country was cash starved, resulting in the high rates and extreme conditions for obtaining loans.
Responding to my next inquiry about the Dana Harta (Property Consolidation Fund), the sole female Malay political leader said that it was a good idea, implemented while Anwar was still Minister of Finance.
"At the beginning of the crisis in 1997, it was good to implement the Dana Harta. But since then some people have made a lot of money out of it. What is the accountability to this?" she asked. She suspects that some parties have manipulated the funds, and that there has been no record keeping in the institution of such funds.
Wan Azizah spoke of the Time.COM shares buyout by the National Employees Fund (EPF) and the sale of shares of the Malaysian Airline System (MAS), remarking that it was incredible that within 36 hours, Time.COM registered losses of 414 million Malaysian ringgit (USD1.00 to RM3.80) on the share market and that MAS now owed the former chairman, Tan Sri Ramli, for the share buyout operation that took place in February of this year.
Ramli was the owner of some 25% of shares of the battling national carrier that were bought by the government for a hefty USD2.10, while on the stock market the MAS was being traded for a mere USD1.00.
Opposition parties are currently running high on what they call the "save the people's money" campaign that is gaining momentum in the villages and has attracted great support in remote areas, Wan Azizah told IOL.
She said the people were excited by the idea that the money being used by the government was the people's money and belonged to them. "They want more of the popular rallies of the opposition and they even say they are excited with the baton wielding police cracking down on the opposition supporters."
The police had, in fact, cracked down on a rally organized by the opposition in Prime Minister Mahathir's hometown of Kubang Pasu in Kedah.
Wan Azizah made it clear that she felt the government was wrong to portray the opposition's campaign to raise general awareness about the use of public funds as an attempt at a mass uprising to topple the regime.
"Decisions like those concerning the MAS and Time.COM cannot be left unchecked. There must be transparency and for this to happen the opposition has to play its role fully in informing the public."
She added that there is no transparency regarding institutions like the Tabung Haji (Haj Fund), the EPF, the Khazanah Berhad, Time Dot Com and MAS. The people do not know whether these companies are being used by the government to bail out bankrupt millionaires and billionaires and to fuel mega projects such as the delayed RM4.00 billion Bakun Dam project in Sarawak, as is being suggested by rumors circulating in public and on the Internet.
Speaking about the need for press freedom in Malaysia, Wan Azizah said that this is one of the setbacks the opposition alliance is facing. "We do not have a free press in Malaysia. The government controls it. The entire media is controlled by the regime. From the audio visual to the print media, all the mainstream presses are pro-government.
"There is a need to free the media and to allow it to report the facts, and give space to the opposition to present its concerns, criticism and suggestions.
"We have asked for several commission[s] of inquiries to be set up on issues ranging from the Damansara Chinese School in Bukit Damansara, which has been arbitrarily closed, down to that of human rights and the beating of Anwar in jail.
"We even made suggestions in Parliament, where we have valuable elements from the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and the Alternative Front (AF) altogether, but these has [have] never been reported to the public. Not on national television or in the mainstream press," Wan Azizah deplored.
I asked the NJP leader, clad in her traditional Malay dress (Baju Kurung) and wearing a headscarf, whether she would talk on the problems facing the Alternative Front, which at times looks to be on the brink of a break-up.
Responding to my remark that the Democratic Action Party (DAP) was an Achilles tendon for the AF that gave the impression to foreign observers that the opposition alliance was not strong enough to stand up to the government, she said that the issue was touchy and that anything she said about it could be misinterpreted by the mainstream media. She did, however, state her belief that the DAP was not a weak element within the AF.
"The AF is composed of four parties and I am certain the DAP will remain one of the opposition party [ies] within the AF. They have given us the assurance that they will be with the AF and will struggle together for democracy in Malaysia.
"The DAP went very far in its sacrifice by joining the AF. This is indicative of its commitment to the opposition alliance," Wan Azizah added.
When I insisted that the DAP could easily be the target of the ruling coalition and that it could be coerced into leaving the AF, and asked if she felt the AF would survive without the DAP, she answered, "I do not believe the DAP will leave the alliance. Whatever problems we have, we deal with them swiftly and we put the alliance at the forefront."
The DAP has been at the center of quakes within the AF that prompted the famous Economist magazine to suggest, in no uncertain words, that the trouble within the AF would keep the ruling coalition in power by helping Mahathir win future general elections.
Wan Azizah nevertheless replied that the alliance was a powerful mixture of parties that had the interest of the nation, and not that of a particular ethnicity, in mind.
The DAP is a Chinese-based national party with a wide membership of Muslims and Indians while the NJP is a Malay party that has brought Indians and Chinese as well into its folds, giving it a spectacular nationalistic image.
Wan Azizah described the NJP as a Pan-Malaysian party fighting for democracy and transparency in the country, agreeing that the party has a particular appeal to Malays and non-Malays together, and adding that it is not only fighting for Anwar Ibrahim's release from jail, but on behalf of the poor and needy in Malaysia.
"It is conspicuous that our interest in the poor and needy in this country is being viewed as part of a strategy to debunk the Mahathir regime. That is ridiculous. When we visit the wounded from the clashes that rocked Malaysia a week ago, we are termed as opportunists.
"The government says we are buying the sympathy of the wounded and the poor for political gains. For Allah's sake, it is the duty of a Muslim to visit the sick, and for that matter, the wounded from the clashes in Klang Lama," an obfuscated leader told IOL.
She warned that the people of Malaysia should be wary of the government's divide and rule tactics. "They are certainly trying to target the component parties within the AF. They tried to destabilize the NJP - they failed, and it is now stronger than ever. They also tried to undo the PAS and are probably targeting the DAP now.
"I am certain they will fail again and that will prove to them that the AF is stronger than ever before. It is a good thing for Malaysia to finally have a united opposition front. AF is an alliance based on principles."
Wan Azizah also said that it was good for the opposition alliance to have several parties within it. "The National Front (NF) is composed of 14 racial and ethnically based parties. We are composed of parties that have the same aspirations to have better democracy and justice in Malaysia."
She added that the alliance, being faced by a series of problems to solve, is confronted by an opponent having serious trouble running the country.
"Look at the NF. They are suffering from a lack of transparency. Criticism, constructive and valuable as they are, is not tolerated. They are indulged in building mega projects that does [do] not cater for the needs of the population.
"The problem with the current regime is that it seems to be unaccountable for the misuse of public funds.
"The state of the judiciary, the press, the issues raised for the Malay unity talks, and the current grumbling within the UMNO party. There are many other problems faced by the leader of the government within his party and regime.
All of these are indicative that there will be changes within the political landscape of Malaysia in the long run, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said.
She told IOL that her role in politics is to create an awareness of the gross injustices occurring in Malaysia, and that the fate of her husband does not dictate the future of the NJP, a party that she insists will continue to fight for human rights and justice on all fronts.
"My future in politics will, however, depend on the rapidity of the release of Anwar Ibrahim from jail," the leader added, stating that it is not impossible for her to continue in politics under the leadership of her husband once he is freed from jail, but that her main aim is to care for her family, particularly for her children.
"Maybe I [will] fade gracefully, maybe I [will] bring the battle for justice on other grounds. Who would know?" she asked, saying that she currently feels victimized in the face of oppression.
However, she said to IOL, the force of the NJP comes both from the jailing of Anwar and from the work done out in the field by its many party workers - as well as from the leadership of the AF alliance. Stating further that the party would be even stronger if Anwar was out of jail and had the chance to confront Mahathir and the government, Wan Azizah asserted, "But they want him in jail for as long as they can keep him. This is because they are afraid of him and they know if he is freed, it will spell doom for them."
The couple's home has become somewhat of a shrine where people of all walks of life from around the world visit the family, which is living day by day in the hopes and prayers that the jailed leader will soon be released so that their lives can go on.
Wan Azizah ended the interview with comments on how her children are proud to be the offspring of a leader who has sacrificed and worked hard to bring justice and unanimity to the Malays and his country.
"My daughter, Nurul Izzah, says she is proud of being the daughter of Anwar Ibrahim. She lost two years of her education after the arrest of her father and for being with me all the while.
"I am satisfied all my children have the spirit of reformasi. However they are marked for life with the events that followed the revocation of Anwar. I hope they will [get] through all this. This year has been better for them all," she concluded.
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