Thor and the selfless team at OFF, Minister Brende, friends
God morgen. God morgen and salaam. First attempt. Now five years ago
my father Anwar Ibrahim delivered a speech right here on the stage entitled “Half a Century of One-Party Rule.”
He was talking about my country, Malaysia
which has been dominated by the same party for more than 50 years.
That same year here at the Oslo Freedom Forum, Wikileaks
founder spoke on the same stage as Anwar, Julian Assange.
And Julian had declared “when you meet Anwar, please be careful.”
You see, during Julian’s visit to Malaysia he met up with my father
and just hours later, he was detained by Malaysia secret service.
My father, a unifying and popular figure in Malaysia’s history
is seen as a very dangerous man by the UMNO party regime.
When he served as deputy Prime Minister and finance minister in the 1990s
he amended the corruption act to further strengthen it.
This, of course, displeased the political elite and by September 1998
Mahathir Mohammad, the then Prime Minister sacked him from government.
He was then arrested after leading large-scale demonstrations, of course
also beaten under custody by the then police chief of Malaysia whilst being handcuffed and blindfolded.
This was taken about a week after his beating.
His eventual sentencing and trials, god knows it’s been 17 years, so many trials
have been condemned worldwide by both international human rights organizations as well as governments.
Initially, it was announced there were going to be 20 charges against Anwar Ibrahim.
He was very popular then. The charges ranged from sodomy, treachery.
There was also being an American and Israeli agent.
They only forgot to throw in the kitchen sink but other than that, you know, Anwar was guilty.
They jailed him for six years, much of which he spent under solitary confinement.
And his trials earned Malaysia, my country, our very own International Commission of Jurists report
the very same organization that observed Mandela’s flawed trials.
In our case, it was entitled “Justice in Jeopardy: Malaysia 2000.”
As I speak to you today in Oslo, Anwar, my father, and the opposition leader of Malaysia before his detention
is behind bars again for the second trumped up charges of sodomy.
I have been told that in the nearly 200 speakers in this conference’s history
as mentioned by Thor just now, four are incarcerated.
Nabeel from Bahrain, Thulani from Swaziland, and of course, Leopoldo from Venezuela.
So you see the Malaysian regime keeps some very authoritarian company.
Now specifically for my father, this is his third incarceration, third incarceration since 1998.
He is now in urgent need of medical attention, and when he was my age
here is his picture, he was a political prisoner
for 22 months under the Internal Security Act. Thankfully, over the years he grew more handsome.
But no less rebellious, an inside joke in Malaysia.
Now the year 1998 brought the historic Asian financial crisis
and, of course, the political crisis, the imprisonment of Anwar, to Malaysia.
Now equally important for me, it was my very own political awakening.
As a child, I wanted to be an engineer, and I would have pursued that if it wasn’t for the events of 1998.
So, in a way, I do owe the Malaysian government thanks for getting me involved in politics.
If the government did not abuse institutions, influencing judicial outcomes, rigging votes, controlling the media
If it did not use force against dissenters and their political opponents, my father might still be free.
And I would probably working for Shell or any other multinational companies
maybe retrenched now at the current oil crisis.
But the point is different trajectory altogether.
Well, now, it’s not just Anwar who is Malaysia’s most wanted.
It’s also me, it’s also my colleagues in the opposition
it is also people who supported and led the movement for free and fair elections in Malaysia
And many others demanding for a more democratic and just Malaysia.
See, in the last general elections 2013 our coalition Pakatan Rakyat
was lead by Anwar Ibrahim to win as much as 52% of the populace support.
But of course, we were defeated by extreme gerrymandering, malapportionment, and election fraud.
The ruling government held on to power by winning more than 60% seats.
There was an electoral integrity project commissioned by Harvard University and Sydney University.
They rated Malaysia, my country, as having the worst electoral district boundaries in the world. In the world.
See, I mean, we hold a ranking.
And the worst election rules. Now this places Malaysia effectively
alongside countries like Zimbabwe, Angola and Egypt.
The government’s gerrymandering was compounded by the abuse of postal votes.
Out of 222 parliamentary seats, the government won almost 30 on the back of postal and early votes alone.
And since those flawed elections in 2013, almost 20 members of parliament such as myself
state legislators, have been arrested, charged, locked up, along with 150 others.
Malaysians, journalists, we have cartoonists, we have students and ordinary citizens.
So now you might be thinking so how about me? What about you, Izzah?
Well, growing up, I was a prefect and like the rest all of you here, never smoked pot in my life.
Now I played by the rules, and of course, I was the model example of a citizen, happy to get by.
But of course, all that changed, all that changed when the government proceeded not only to cling onto power
but what’s more important is the corruption
the oppression and the shear injustice led to a girl scout like myself
to be a second term member of parliament
and defeating two sitting cabinet ministers thanks to the trust of Malaysians in the pursuit of reform.
In March, I was recently arrested, it’s a picture of me just released
some acne problem of the overnight in the lockup.
And there’s me with the kids. You know, when I was arrested, I asked them to say goodbye to my children.
And basically I was arrested for speaking in parliament
for speaking in parliament on behalf of my father.
So you have this beautiful, sunny, prosperous Malaysia.
You have the Twin Towers used to be the tallest buildings in the world.
Yet no parliamentary immunity for members of parliament. So MPs can be arrested for sedition.
Now, the whole experience of being a prisoner has taught me a lot.
We have lock up rules that are 67 years old. We love to protect and preserve these British colonial relics.
And, of course, I spent the night with many other colleagues sleeping on the floor
just to be asked questions like “You refer to a devil in your speech. Who was that devil you are referring to?”
See, I had condemned the federal court judges in my father’s case for having sold their souls to the devil.
I say this because Malaysia is in dire need of judicial reform.
And we are fighting for electoral reform, a more multiracial Malaysia
where diversity must and is seen as a strength, not something that divides us.
Now reformists in my country are actually Malaysia’s most wanted.
Why? Because we hold the key to the future, to the zeal for reform.
Malaysia’s most wanted are those who clamor for an end to the unequal distribution of wealth
against corruption, extravagance, and Malaysia’s most wanted are those who despair, like myself
when our children receive low educational standards
and in the PISA rankings we were once surpassed by Vietnam.
So Malaysia’s most wanted are also those who reject the use of racial
and religious rhetoric to scare indigenous Malays into voting for status quo.
And Malaysia’s most wanted are those who realize anti-terrorism laws are often disguises
to detain political dissenters in the name of security and stability.
Malaysia’s most wanted are sick to the bone with failed governance and mammoth financial scandals.
Most recently the controversial government investment fund 1MDB- where’s Mr. Burgis?
If Angola and Nigeria has Sam Pa, Malaysia also has our very own Sam Pa.
And here he is with none other than Paris Hilton. Do you know who Paris Hilton is?
So anyway, Malaysia’s most wanted are also the younger generation of Malaysia
who voted as high as 88% in the Permatang Pauh elections, by-elections.
My father’s seat Permatang Pauh he lost upon his conviction, has been now retained by our party
the People’s Justice Party, despite enormous challenges put up by the government.
And Malaysia’s most wanted will not give up.
Just last week my mother, Wan Azizah, was chosen by the opposition coalition
as the opposition leader of Malaysia.
They certainly cannot lock all of us up.
Even if the messenger remains behind bars, even if Anwar is imprisoned
his agenda for reform will continue.
And we know that the world will not just see Malaysia for the Petronas Twin Towers.
What of the future then?
I believe very firmly that it belongs to Malaysia’s most wanted
it belongs to us who will ensure that reform takes place in Malaysia.
that we become more democratic, fulfill our potential.
And because of that, for me, the clarion call of reformasi, reform must continue to be carried by every person
loving Malaysia, wanting the best for Malaysia.
I end by thanking all of you and the OFF for supporting Malaysian’s efforts to continue to live in truth.
Thank you very much.