Anwar confirms he's eyeing Kulim
Malaysiakini.com
Jul 23, 2008
Soon Li Tsin 

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has alluded that the election petition for the Kedah parliamentary seat of Kulim-Bandar Baharu, which is scheduled to be heard on Aug 19, could pave the way for his return to Parliament.
MCPX

At a press conference today welcoming former deputy information minister Fauzi Abdul Rahman from Umno into the party, Anwar said recent events have not derailed his plan for a political comeback.

anwar pc welcome fauzi 230708 anwar2.jpg"I discussed with Zulkifli Nordin who won the Kulim parliamentary seat and he told me that he would be prepared to have consent to get this seat cleared (for me)," he said.

It is not whether the postponement of the court hearing on the election petition by one month has affected his plan.

Nevertheless, Anwar is also open to the possibility for one of the PKR leaders to resign as MP to force a by-election which he would then contest.

"Notwithstanding, I am in discussion with (Pakatan Rakyat) leaders and there is a possibility of an imminent by-election," said Anwar, who is finding a way to return to Parliament after a 10-year absence.

Statement of expenditure

bandar kulim bharu kedah parliament seat results 180708The High Court, which is due to hear the Kulim-Bandar Baharu election petition yesterday, has postponed it to Aug 19.

This is the second time that the hearing for the election petition has been put off - the court was to hear the case two days ago.

Judge Balia Yusoff Wahi last month set July 20 to hear the petition after dismissing preliminary objection raised by the winning candidate Zulkifli to strike out the petition.

The petition was filed by Umno candidate Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir on the grounds that Zulkifli had failed to submit his statement of expenditure from his 2004 general election campaign.

Under the Election Act, candidates who do not submit their statement of expenditure to the Election Commission can be disqualified from contesting in future elections.

Denied 'dignity and honour'

The former deputy premier was also agitated when quizzed on accusations that he was not addressing the controversy surrounding his reluctance to give a new DNA sample to speed up investigations into sodomy allegations made against him by former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

"The burden of proof is on the accuser. I want to see the police and medical reports first.

"No, we will not wait for the charge to be revealed. We want to know now if they have evidence," he said.

Anwar has voiced fears that certain quarters in the government may attempt to fabricate and manipulate evidence if he gives a DNA sample.

However, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar have urged Anwar to comply with the requirement.

He lost his cool

Losing his cool, Anwar lashed out at individuals who criticised him for not trusting the system.

"You are either blind or totally ignorant, if you went through what I did (and still) trust the system.

"What is that the police want that I have not given? If you feel you are innocent, they want to meddle with your private parts.

"This is not something, at my age, to go through. And they checked my anus and played around with it as part of the medical examination. Do you think you’ll like it? No!" he exclaimed.

However, the opposition stalwart later apologised for his outburst, saying he was frustrated at being denied "human dignity and honour".

In 1998, Anwar was arrested and later jailed for sodomy and corruption, and sacked as deputy premier. The sex conviction was later overturned.

The charismatic politician has been banned from holding political office as a result of his corruption conviction, causing him to miss the March general election. The five-year ban expired two months ago. 

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