Anwar Ibrahim: the missing link in MH370 mystery?
William J Dobson
Slate
Washington


Hishamuddin Hussin, Malaysia

WASHINGTON: -- Authorities' focus on chief pilot and his support for the opposition leader lays bare the workings of a corrupt regime whose only purpose is accumulating wealth and power.

There is an axiom in Malaysian politics: Eventually everything comes back to Anwar Ibrahim. So, the longer that the fumbling and inept investigation into the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has gone on, the more certain it became that it would somehow boomerang to the leader of the country's democratic opposition.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Najib Razak went before the cameras to declare that officials believe the plane was deliberately diverted and flown in an unknown direction somewhere along a wide arc from Kazakhstan to deep into the Indian Ocean. Now that the search for the Boeing 777 has turned into a criminal investigation, the authorities are taking a close look at the flight's chief pilot, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, and its first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid.

They quickly learned - as no doubt all of Shah's friends knew - that the pilot was a strong supporter of Anwar Ibrahim's People's Justice Party. Indeed, Shah is believed to have attended Anwar's court hearing on March 7 that overturned his 2012 acquittal on sodomy charges, a politically motivated case that the Malaysian government typically dusts off around election time. On Sunday, the British and Malaysian press treated the revelation with the shock you might reserve for damning evidence. Shah was described - by an unnamed source - as a "fanatical supporter of the country's opposition leader". Elsewhere, he is described (apparently by unnamed police sources) as "fervent" and "strident" in his political convictions. More than a week after the Boeing 777 disappeared, we lack a motive, a clear suspect, or even a crime scene, but we have our "Anwar Ibrahim connection". That is Malaysian politics.

A fanatical supporter of Anwar Ibrahim does sound scary - as long as you know nothing about him.

Anwar is the 66-year old opposition leader who is the principal thorn in the side of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) that has ruled Malaysia for 56 years. Anwar heads a coalition of parties, which includes his own multiethnic party, that has made the greatest inroads against the country's corrupt masters. In 2008, the opposition won more than a third of the seats in parliament - the first time that UMNO lost its supermajority that allowed it to change the constitution at the prime minister's whim. Anwar, who had been a political prisoner for six years, most of it in solitary confinement, won his seat in a landslide, and the opposition won five of the country's 13 state governments. Last year, his opposition party claimed to have won the election against the ruling party, a contest that many say was marred by widespread fraud. Anwar supported the massive protests that followed the ruling party's supposed victory, but he never called for a toppling of the government.

Anwar is trying to defeat Malaysia's authoritarian regime through elections - not terrorism, let alone revolution. So, to be clear, what we know is that the pilot of MH370 is a fanatical supporter of a nonviolent man who supports a pluralistic and democratic Malaysia.

Of course, we don't know Shah's precise state of mind, and it is true that hours before the flight, his political hero had just been dealt bad news with the court's decision to overturn his previous acquittal. But this is not news that Anwar or his close supporters would have found shocking. On several occasions I have interviewed Anwar, most recently at his home in 2011, he was always forced to operate under the threat of these politically trumped-up charges that he viewed as nothing more than a weak effort to discredit him. Indeed, few Malaysians view the government's accusations as anything other than evidence of crooked politics, and Anwar has only become more popular and UMNO's rule more brittle.

But, if we are engaging in wild theories - and why not, this is Malaysian politics - then why would unnamed police sources be playing up the pilot's political beliefs a week after we are no closer to knowing the truth about MH370? Because the Malaysian authorities' performance during this investigation is a pretty reasonable approximation of what passes for governance in a corrupt, nepotistic regime that long ago lost any purpose besides accumulating wealth and extending its own power. Malaysia has fallen behind its Southeast Asian competitors economically in large part because of its stunted political culture. Acting transportation minister Hishammuddin Hussein's defensive press conferences and updates, which range from opaque to contradictory, are what you'd expect from government ministers who are seldom expected to answer questions.

So, is it possible that Shah hijacked the Malaysia Airlines flight in some twisted form of protest against the government? Of course - even if it seems a less likely explanation than the half dozen other theories that are being floated. Because, whatever happened on board Flight 370, Shah's support of Anwar Ibrahim is the one piece of evidence that suggests he had a firm grip on reality, not that he was trying to escape it.

William J Dobson is the author of "The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy".

-- The Nation 2014-03-19

Well said.

Well, the article is definitely about denouncing Malaisia's politics

Fairly accurate snapshot of Malaysian politics and the urgent need to blame anyone not connected with an inept and out of touch government.

What a load of crock to suggest the pilot was doing this as a political statement.

Excellent article and pretty much accurate. Radical action or terrorism is not the way or the stance Anwar takes or even reflective of the pilots personality from what ive read. Professional yes, focused yes. breaking his caveat of protecting his passengers and their lives after a lifetime of civil aviation service for a party whom would almost certainly condemn it immediately if not ruin it by association ? It just dosnt fit

I have to say at this stage of the information available on the main pilot I very much doubt it is simply political related terrorism by the pilot at least.

"So, is it possible that Shah hijacked the Malaysia Airlines flight in some twisted form of protest against the government? Of course."

Disappointing ending. Of course it is possible. Anything that is imaginable and not contradictory is possible (Hume). The issue is whether it is likely.

Given the writer's statement, "Anwar is trying to defeat Malaysia's authoritarian regime through elections - not terrorism, let alone revolution", I would put pilot-hijacking at the bottom of the list of probabilities.

thailand likes to copy things from others, hope they will not copy the malay incident... TAT will never recover if terrorists would hijack a plane in good old thailaaan

My thoughts too hehe. Though Id even go further and say the plane was going to be used to ferry off Ibrahim to freedom in a sympathetic country. Next theory please...

Seems to be a well written story. I suspect bigger players than the pilot and the Leader of the Malaysian Opposition with bigger plans....

I wondered if it was to risky for the Malaysian government (Mahatir) to hold Anwar accountable for earthquakes. Now I'm not so sure anymore.

Fairly accurate snapshot of Malaysian politics and the urgent need to blame anyone not connected with an inept and out of touch government.

Amazing two asean countries who are neighbours, one Islamic, the other Buddhist with governments who have exactly the same mindset. Must be something in the water.

Very good article. 56 years in power. Why don't the Malaysian people see their government is not working for the people?

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Very interesting, the flight is a two part story. Firstly it is professionally and carefully diverted from its course, and then secondly it goes missing, probably over water.

There were no panic phone calls from the passengers .

Off-topic post deleted.

Oh my Malaysia, though image been tarnished. Behind that sparkling and shining steel symbol of prosperity Petronas towers is the age-old corruption eating away at its core.

Anyone want to give on on Thai politics and move to Malaysia? Cambodia? Vietnam? Thailand seems to be pretty damn great at this time for my life.

Actually, the connection between the pilot and Anwar Ibrahim was made a few days ago. Not sure why it is suddenly "headline news" now, days later, unless it is just another sign of a desperate government trying to "blame shift" so they can wash their hands of the matter by claiming it was a deliberate act by the (political) opposition.

This is a common tactic used by various groups (religious, political, environmental, etc). Try to lay blame for almost every event under the sun at the feet of your main opponent(s) in an attempt to sway public opinion to your side, regardless of the actual truth. The more desperate the group, the more desperate the lies and "blame shifting".

It is also unfortunate that, on both sides of almost every group, there are those that are willing to go to almost any lengths in order to promote (or protect) their particular beliefs. Many of those will convince themselves that what they are doing is "right" and the leaders of those groups may not ever know what is happening. Usually their actions are accompanied by some form of statement, either a justification for their actions or at least demands, which would identify at least which "group" is responsible. Committing a major act of any kind wherein nobody knows who did it or why, is useless.

All of this just amounts to more speculation as no one has been able to find any evidence to support any of it at this point. Despite all the technology available, they don't have a clue whether the jet flew north or south even ! Search grids range from coastal Australia to frikken Kazakhstan ! It's up to an area of over 2.24 million square (nautical) miles (just over 2.97 million square miles or 7.69 million square kilometers) ! That's almost the size of Australia !

7.7 million square kilometers to find an object that is about .004 square kms (if it's still in one piece).

A debris field that was 1,000 square kilometers in size would represent an area of about .01% of the total search area (one hundredth of a single percent). In the Air France crash, by the 16th day after the crash bodies had been recovered in 2 separate areas over 80 kms apart, from a plane they think was relatively intact when it hit the water. In that incident, they had a good idea of where to start searching and had sighted debris just over a day later. it was 5 days after the crash before the first debris and bodies were recovered. The initial visual search area covered an area of approx 320,000 sq kms (or about 4% of the search area being looked at for the Malaysian aircraft). It still took over 2 years and numerous searches to find the main parts of the plane and the black boxes (and, astonishingly, another 100+ bodies).

This isn't looking for a needle in a haystack. This is looking for the speck of dust that used to be on the tip of the needle, in an area where there is little, if any, satellite coverage, no shipping, virtually no habitation.

It could be years before we ever learn what happened and why. It could be we will never know.

My guess is that this is now making the 'headlines' because the newspapers are running out of things to report. The religious connections were looked at very quickly and I assume the politics was right behind, along with finances, family problems, health issues, etc.. There is little progress and this is a big story, so the minutia will be next.

don't believe what the Malaysian UMNO & BN government says. 51% of the malaysian citizen does not believe them anymore and they have totally lost their credibility. the reason why they are still in power is because of gerrymandering.

it's has always been their tactics to blame opposition party and wash their hands clean. they can crap up stupid remarks that you know it's totally bullshit --- and still get away with it. No one in the country can stop them. No one outside the country could stop them too.

Atlantuya murder -- they got away with crapping bullshit

submarine that cannot submerge -- they got away with crapping bullshit

Malaysian Jet Engine got stolen from the Royal Airforce of Malaysia hanger -- they got away with crapping bullshit

Crisis with MAS - missing flight -- they "will" get away soon with crapping bullshit , opposition and also bomoh.

Poor thing to the family of the missing flight -- with Malaysian government handling the situation -- i give it maximum another 2 weeks, then they sweep everything under the carpet. they will crap some bullshit and say we have done our best, we will withdraw the search because its too costly .. put up a fake hotline number for family and friends to call in to request for information -- only to know that the call center people never pick up their call.

So what if many newspaper and journal media write badly about how Malaysian government handle this situation -- no use -- Hishamuddin will still be the minister -- Najib will still be the prime minister -- Rosmah will still buy more diamond rings and branded leather handbag -- Petronas will always bail out MAS from bankruptcy. Malaysian taxpayer will still have to feed those "mother poker". Resistance is futile --- or may i say "resistance is getting yourself with sodomy charges'

Sorry to family and friends of MH 370. with Malaysia at their state of power now, don't expect to get any answer and don't expect that you could complain to some NGO to get these lazy politician to work. They are immune to righteousness.

The only missing link is the Malaysian brain. Zero coordination from the start with surrounding countries. Zero communications among themselves and absolutely zero idea on how to investigate this tragedy.

The limelight is now shining brightly on Malaysia and what the world sees is not very cute.

Now it has emerged that Thai radar identified the plane changing courseand heading south-west just minutes after it happened on March 8.

Thailand says it did not pass on the information to Malaysia at the time because it was not asked for.

If the information had been passed on it could have saved days of wasted effort in the wrong search area.

What a load of crock to suggest the pilot was doing this as a political statement.

Others in the know believe it was refueled in Mid Air and flew to a certain Mid Eastern country that controls the banks

I don't believe the 777 passenger version is capabable of mid air refueling. That equipment is a major installation in a plane.

The military version of the 777, the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus IS a midair refueling tanker.