MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has urged the Gillard government to step up pressure against his homeland.
The pro-democracy advocate wants pressure applied to end corruption and electoral fraud.
Dr Ibrahim will meet MPs in Canberra today to encourage them to join a parliamentary delegation to Malaysia.
The former deputy prime minister is facing an extended jail term should he be found guilty of the apparently trumped-up charge of sodomy, which remains a crime in Malaysia.
He spent six years in prison for earlier charges of corruption and sodomy, convictions that were overturned on appeal.
Speaking on Sky News yesterday, Dr Ibrahim decried the electoral process as "fraudulent" and said it was up to Australia and New Zealand as the leading Western democracies of the Asia-Pacific to raise concerns about the limitations on freedom and democracy in his homeland.
He noted that a delegation from the European Union had recently toured Malaysia and urged the government led by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to be more "proactive" in protecting human rights and justice in the country.
"It's generally expected for a country that professes to have democracy to also support universal principles, including democratic values," he said, in reference to Australia.
"They cannot just consider and go to Malaysia and say, 'Well, it's a great moderate Muslim country'. I would consider that an insult. How do you consider a Muslim country moderate when it's so corrupt?"
But he conceded he might have more luck convincing individual MPs to rally to his cause than any formal representation from the Gillard government.
"We have difficulty in persuading governments to go and have a look, but probably we can persuade MPs to express themselves," said Dr Ibrahim, who was deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998.
"Where else would we look to in Asia, if not Australia-New Zealand, to at least express their views and their concerns, and now Indonesia of course, which is a great friend and ally."
SUMBER :- THE AUSTRALIAN
BERITA PUSING
PM: Pandangan Anwar satu 'suara sumbang'
Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata pandangan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim terhadap Malaysia adalah satu suara sumbang yang tidak mencerminkan pendapat pemimpin-pemimpin dunia.
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