Anwar Ibrahim: Read the full interview

Post reporter Adrian Wan interviewed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in the week it emerged that the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was a staunch supporter of the politician. Here is the full interview.

Do you know the captain?

I don’t recollect the name, but when the photographs of him were shown, I remember I have met him in some party meetings.

Was he an active member in the party?

He doesn’t hold positions in the party, but is active in the sense that he’s been seen to be with the party’s parliamentary leaders – taking photographs with them.

When was the last time you saw him?

I think it was one of the functions our party held in a nearby constituency. But he’s known to our members of parliament because he’s a senior captain. As I recall it, probably one or two years back.

Just to have a full disclosure: do you know any other people on the plane?

Most of them are foreign nationals, so I’m not aware I know any, except for captain Zaharie.

Some people are linking the plane’s disappearance with the captain’s political affiliation to your People’s Justice Party. What is your reaction to that?

It’s grossly unfair. First, there’s simply no evidence that shows any he’s responsible for it. And he’s only a member of my party, nothing else.

Other than coming quickly to this sort of conclusion, the government should find out who were on the plane, who used the forged passports – the issues that wonder many people. But what they are doing is to make it rather political and blame Anwar. I mean, that’s their whole game.

I have suffered immensely in my political career, but I consistently oppose any kind of violence of terrorist act.

I have read your 2001 article “Who hijacked Islam?”, which you opened with a quotation from the Qur’an: “Let not your hatred of others cause you to act unjustly against them.”

Yeah.

But do you think the government is trying to associate you with the plane’s disappearance?

Yes. I think what they don’t realise now is that the entire issue of governance and the manner they managed the media were all under international spotlight. They want to deflect questions away to the pilot and me, without addressing the many real issues, like why they give contradictory facts. I mean, even the stolen passports – the police said four, and then two. And what’s wrong with the security breach?

I mean, I have enough problems in my political career. (laughs) I have got this five-year sentence hanging, and I have just two to three months of space for an appeal.

You see, I was finance minister before, Adrian. And at that time they procured the Marconi radar system in the east coast - decided by then defence minister Najib Razak. They is supposed to be a radar that has the capacity to identify all flying objects from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean. Now how is it that they can’t? They have to explain these things.

It’s understandable for the Chinese to express disgust or anger. Why for one week we have to spend millions of dollars when you know that the plane has been diverted? You see? So what they are trying to do now is to try and cover all these and say “look, look. Maybe this is a hijacking involving this fanatic Anwar supporter”. That does not absolve them from the manner they manage the crisis. Or, mismanaged it.

But there’s a long running joke here that goes: “Anything goes wrong, it’s Anwar.” So when Manchester United lost to Real Madrid and the referee was Turkish, it must be Anwar, because he’s a friend of Turkey.