Former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia John Malott has declined to be drawn into a verbal punch-up with Malay rights troublemaker Ibrahim Ali, who had called him and a prominent economist Zainal Aznam Yusof “sick” for their views. Both men had said the existing discriminatory practices in the country boded ill for its economic future.
"I do not want to dignify his remarks by saying anything in response. But I would like to assure my many friends in Malaysia that I am well, both physically and mentally!" Malott wrote in an email reply to Malaysia Chronicle.
This is not the first time Malott and Ibrahim Ali have crossed swords. Last year, Ibrahim staged a noisy demonstration outside the U.S. embassy in leafy Ampang suburb, handing over a memorandum to officially protest Malott for calling his Perkasa outfit a 'militant' group.
Malott (right) led the U.S. mission during the years 1995 to 1998 and still maintains an active interest in Malaysia and her Southeast Asian neighbours. Earlier this week, he wrote an article entitled The price of Malaysia’s racism that was published in the Wall Street Journal.
In it, he warned of the negative social and economic consequences if Prime Minister Najib Razak continued to practise racial favouritism and allowed his Umno party to foist Malay supremacy onto the other ethnic groups that make up 45 per cent of a 28 million population.
Deflecting blame from Najib
Ibrahim, a veteran parliamentary lawmaker from Kelantan with a chequered record, first burst into national prominence about a year ago seeking to defend Malay rights after a court ruled that the word ‘Allah’ could be used by non-Malays to describe God.
He founded Perkasa and staged protest after protest, making inflammatory remarks that deeply angered the non-Malays. Yet he escaped punishment for many of his comments that lawyers have said were clearly seditious.
That sparked suspicion that he was part of a good guy-bad guy drama staged by Najib and former premier Mahathir Mohamad to cling to power in Umno.
On Tuesday, the 57-year old Ibrahim lashed out at Malott and Zainal, who sits in the National Economic Advisory Council.
In an effort seen as orchestrated to deflect blame from an increasingly unpopular Najib, Ibrahim stoutly defended the political dominance held by the Malay community and also resisted any attempts to withdraw its special economic rights.
"I think there are Malaysians who have asked for his help. There must be people behind him, asking him to give negative views of our prime minister,” Malaysiakini reported him as saying.“I believe Malott is backed by a Malaysian who is facing a political death, but I will not name names.”
Coincidentally, Zainal had also blamed Ibrahim and Perkasa for “strangling” the New Economic Model at a separate event. When Najib took over the premiership in 2009, he claimed he wanted to launch the needs-based NEM to replace the race-based and affirmative-action New Economic Policy.
But Ibrahim disagreed the NEP made Malaysia uncompetitive.
Fathi Sorour
When the position of vice president was still vacant, Sorour -- speaker of the People's Assembly and veteran leader of Mubarak's National Democratic Party -- was second in line to Egypt's presidency. If Mubarak had resigned or died in office, Sorour would have become interim president for 60 days until new elections could be held, though the country's constitution would forbid him from running for president after that time. However, Sorour's connection to Mubarak could overrule potential support from the opposition.
Amr Moussa
Amr Moussa has been Secretary General of the Arab League since 2001, after serving as Egypt's foreign minister for a decade. He gained some popularity in that time for his criticism of Israel, and it was rumored that Mubarak got him the position in the Arab League to get rid of a potential rival. Moussa was the first to publicly announce he was considering running for president this year, telling CNN that he would "think [about] it seriously in the next few weeks."
Mohammed ElBaradei
A 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the 68-year-old ElBaradei returned to Egypt from his home in Vienna as the protests were gathering momentum. He has taken part in much of the demonstrations and been a popular spokesman for the opposition in the international media. But despite his high global profile, he is relatively unknown in his own country, and some Egyptians have criticized his decision to live abroad, implying his connection to Egypt has grown stale.
Mohammed Badie
As "general guide" of the Muslim Brotherhood -- Egypt's biggest opposition party -- Mohammed Badie is a possibility for the country's highest office. Badie is seen as a conservative, and the Brotherhood's Islamist ideology makes him an unpopular choice among Western countries and Israel. An official ban on the Brotherhood has not stopped many members from running as nominal independents, and parliamentary elections in 2005 gave the party 20 percent of the vote.
Ayman Nour
The liberal politician founded the opposition party El Ghad, which was formally recognized in 2004. He ran against Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections - the first under Mubarak that allowed multiple candidates - and won second place, shortly was arrested for allegedly falsifying documents that established his party shortly after the election. According to current law, Nour is considered a criminal, and is therefore barred from running for president.
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