Latheefa slams 'theatrical' Anwar, says Malaysians benefited nothing from his government

The former head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has lashed out at Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, saying his claim of waging a war against corruption was only a "theater for public consumption".

Latheefa Koya, who was once part of Anwar's defence team when he was charged with sodomy, said she was not surprised by the series of U-turns by him and how the authorities were going after political enemies accusing them of corruption while sparing allies despite prima facie cases against them.

"What war are we talking about? I think it's just theatre," said the lawyer who headed MACC from June 2019 to Feb 2020, a period marked by investigations and prosecutions related to the 1MDB scandal.

"It's not surprising, but at the same time it's laughable to hear him declaring war on corruption,"  she said on KiniTV's interview programme Straight Talk, hosted by former Malaysian ambassador Dennis Ignatius. "Till today, he keeps saying it, but to me, it's not war."

She said there was little to expect from soneone who settled for a deputy prime minister who was facing multiple corruption charges, a reference to Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose support was crucial for Anwar to fulfil his prime ministerial ambition. 

"Who would do that? Only those without principles," said Latheefa.

The former PKR member for two decades who quit the party in 2019 said there had been leaders who had refused positions where they would have had to make compromises.

"But here, you (Anwar) lapped it up, and now you are stuck."

She said it was disappointing because it came from a government that won after running an election campaign based on fighting corruption.

'If Najib is a victim, free him'

Latheefa also had strong words for Anwar for his suggestion last December that that some corruption cases and convictions after the fall of Barisan Nasional in 2018 were driven by revenge and political vendetta.

"Is he questioning the courts? How many judges have sat down and convicted Najib, for example?" she asked, referring to the conviction of former prime minister Najib Razak in the SRC International case.

She said Anwar had undermined decisions by the country's highest courts with his allegation of malicious prosecution.

She challenged Anwar to release Najib if he believed that he was a victim of malicious prosecution.

Latheefa, however, said Anwar preferred to "waffle" on the issue of the royal addendum concerning the former Agong's directive that Najib be allowed to serve the remainder of his jail sentence at home.

"Why half way? It's either he is a victim or he is not. So why don't you release Najib?

"It's a typical style of the prime minister to waffle about over something he should answer."

On Jan 6, the Court of Appeal granted leave to Najib - whose 12-year jail sentence was halved following a royal pardon - for a judicial review on the existence of the royal addendum, in a blow to the Anwar government which has refused to acknowledge the existence of the document.

Latheefa said the whole controversy over the addendum was also part of Anwar's theatrics.

"This is theatre. Probably, if you say it this way, you are going to upset one group, and if you see it the other way, you will upset another group."

She said Anwar had only himself to blame as he had "compromised" himself, adding that the prime minister continued to mislead the public on the issue.

She said it was "sheer hypocrisy" and a "lie to the public" when leaders facing serious corruption charges were let off the hook.

She said the Anwar government's moves to drop corruption charges and grant "sentence discounts" to former leaders were to be expected from the time his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition merged with scandal-tainted Umno leaders.

"So can you now even pretend to declare was on corruption? That's something we should ask ourselves," she said.

'Zero benefit'

She said many had cheered the union of PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) after the 2022 elections by arguing that it was the "best option".

But Latheefa said the public felt no benefit from the PH-BN merger.

"There is no plan to deal with (people's) savings. These are serious problems. We get very emotional reactions when someone questions the prime minister who is also the finance minister. He gives us a lot of fluffy answers, that 'I am travelling here and travelling there for investments'. But where's the result? We don't see it. The prices are getting higher and they are asking everybody to keep quiet."

She said under the previous BN government, many Malaysians felt there was some stability despite rampant corruption.

"Right now, it's neither here nor there. Everyone is upset, everyone is frustrated. It's a horrible time and it just exposes the sheer level of hypocrisy of politicians in general."