DS Anwar Ibrahim's Statement on APCO

APCO: DISCOURSES MUST GO BACK TO THE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES OF
ACCOUNTABILITY AND DUE PROCESS



APCO’s deep involvement in the Prime Minister’s administration is the
clearest proof of UMNO/Barisan Nasional’s hypocrisy.



For more than a decade, it has deafened the country with incessant
propaganda to portray me as a Jewish agent when surreptitiously it
hires a firm known for its strong link with the Israeli intelligence
and political establishment to manage one of the most influential
functions of the administration i.e. messaging and communication.



Therefore, the bulk of my contention when I first raised this issue in
Dewan Rakyat was directed at the Prime Minister’s hypocrisy and
carelessness in hiring a firm with a track record such as APCO’s. It
is only natural that Pakatan Rakyat MPs requested for the government
to come clean on the extent of APCO’s involvement in the formulation
of policies and messaging under the current Prime Minister.



There are numerous records available publicly to substantiate APCO’s
unhealthy track record of working for regimes with penchant for
stifling human rights and democratic space. YB Tian Chua (Member of
Dewan Rakyat for Batu) had written extensively on this in two articles
(“APCO: In Mercenaries We Trust” and “APCO & Najib: Beneath the PR
Veil”). Both articles; published by Malaysiakini provide insights into
the workings of APCO and its cosy relationship with regimes or causes
that are deemed to be detrimental to the promotion of democracy and
public interest.



Thus, the issue was never about the simplistic question of who came up
with 1Malaysia. It is about holding the government of the day
accountable for its haphazard behaviour in spending the public money
(to the tune of RM77 million for a one-year service) to hire a firm
for its own image building. More importantly, it is about the lack of
responsibility of a Prime Minister in ignoring APCO’s track record and
potential security risks posed by the latter.



Unfortunately, UMNO/Barisan Nasional was never prepared to be engaged
on these two critical issues. It went on an over-kill drive from the
beginning which culminated in the suspension of four members of Dewan
Rakyat recently. It trampled on every known ethics and norms including
the natural process of allowing an accused to present and argue his
case before a fair and just panel.



The fact that I was not allowed to present evidence to the
Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee speaks volume of Prime
Minister’s intention to avoid the fundamental issues of accountability
and negligence on his part in hiring APCO. In the end, UMNO/Barisan
Nasional created another first in the history of Dewan Rakyat when it
orchestrated our suspension without a debate and based on a simple
letter of denial from APCO.



I must also respond to UMNO/Barisan Nasional’s latest claim that a
mere letter of denial from APCO and a statement from one Robert M
Shrum constitute an undisputable proof that APCO was not involved in
the conceptualisation of 1Malaysia; neither was 1Malaysia adopted from
One Israel campaign. In a normal court of law, such “evidence” would
have to stand the scrutiny of cross examination to ensure that they
are credible and acceptable for the purpose of a case. No court or
parliamentary committee of a respectable standing would have dismissed
a case and arrived at a biased verdict purely on an account of two
letters produced by the prosecutor.



Going by the same UMNO/Barisan Nasional’s logic, a statutory
declaration made by P Balasubramaniam on his allegation of the Prime
Minister’s relationship with Altantuya Sharibu would have been taken
as an undisputable proof. Likewise, the two contracts signed by APCO
with the governments of Malaysia and Israel respectively that are in
my possession would have to be taken as an undisputable proof of a
link between the 1Malaysia campaign with other campaigns that APCO or
its personnel had worked on previously.



Fortunately, the due process of law and natural justice administered
in the fairest manner will dictate that any evidence produced will be
subject to the highest scrutiny. It is in this respect that I have
been vocal in my criticism because UMNO/Barisan Nasional is determined
to avoid any scrutiny of its relations with APCO to the point that it
would not allow the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee from
going through the proper motion of its proceedings.



Therefore, UMNO/Barisan Nasional’s release of the two documents is
nothing more than an orchestrated media play that ensures no scrutiny
of the “evidence” it claims to have. Anyone who is familiar with
UMNO/Barisan Nasional’s history in orchestrating character
assassination campaigns that often involve the manufacture of “false
evidences” would naturally be sceptical of the latest trial by media.



In the end, the country must go back to the fundamental questions that
Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak is so keen to avoid.



The most fundamental question arose from a report by news portal The
Malaysian Insider dated 28 July 2009 entitled “Money Being Splurged To
Boost Image of Najib’s Administration”. I reproduced here the key
contents which had never been denied officially by the Prime Minister:



“It is understood that the services of Apco Worldwide was brought in
by Omar Mustapha, the close aide of the PM who was recently embroiled
in controversy over his proposed appointment onto the board of
national oil company Petronas.



Apco Worldwide is understood to have had an official based in Najib’s
office since the early days of the administration.



Apco and other public relations specialists from the United States
have also been helping Najib craft his 100 days strategy. This
includes his 1 Malaysia message and other key platforms of his
administration.”





If this is indeed true, the Prime Minister must then be prepared to
explain the other fundamental issue – his trigger happy attitude in
using taxpayers’ money to hire a firm for the sole good of his party;
especially one with such a questionable track record that could have
compromised the country’s security.



DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

LEADER OF OPPOSITION

24 DECEMBER 2010

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