Fuck Enough

The election campaign of Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, hit new depths yesterday with the allegation that the wife of his chief political rival, the jailed Anwar Ibrahim, had sought a divorce, writes John Gittings in Kuala Lumpur.

Dr Wan Azizah `asked for divorce twice over the years after she found out `the truth' about (Anwar),' the pro-government Sun tabloid reported on its front page.

The not-so-subtle insinuation is that Wan Azizah had learnt about her husband's alleged bisexual behaviour - a charge which he says has been fabricated by his political enemies.

The story also claims that she was beaten by Anwar when she asked for a divorce a second time. Wan Azizah has dismissed it as `totally unfounded'. Anwar is standing trial on sodomy charges which Dr Mahathir has several times declared to be proven. No action has been taken against the Prime Minister for his statements which, like yesterday's article, appear to be in contempt of court.

The source for the Sun's story is Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Anwar's cousin. The Sun also quotes an official in the Prime Minister's department, Abdul Hamid Othman, saying there had been a `family dispute between husband and wife'. The star witness in the Anwar affair is the sultry Ummi Hafilda Ali, whose appearances at Anwar's first trial made her a national celebrity.

On Friday, a thousand voters heard her give an impassioned account of how she followed her sister-in-law to an apartment block and then accused her of sleeping with Anwar. Both the sister-in-law and her husband - Anwar's former private secretary who is now an opposition candidate - have denied her claim.

The government's obsession with the jailed former Deputy Prime Minister has grown daily throughout the short campaign. `It's really a contest between Mahathir and Anwar', says one Malaysian journalist. `The problem simply will not go away.
(picked from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1999/nov/28/malaysia Sunday November 28 1999 02:46 GMT)