COMMENT In the movie ‘Wag the Dog’ starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, a spin doctor and Hollywood producer work together to fabricate a war to cover up a sex scandal involving the president just before the election.
 
The producer, wanting credit for his work, is later murdered for failing to keep his lips sealed. The official reason for his death - cardiac arrest.
 
Indeed, there are people who suffer from this egoistic condition, where the brain forgets to inform the mouth that its task is over.
 
Having executed a great scheme or enterprise, these individuals find it impossible to bask in the limelight, in silent. The overwhelming and consuming desire to crow about it must be satiated.
 
It seems that Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is also suffering from this ailment after securing a conviction against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
 
As one learned veteran lawyer put it, “The Anwar case was like his baby, and he just can’t stop talking about it. Perhaps it is a case of withdrawal symptom.”
                  
Nevertheless, Shafee’s antics are leaving certain quarters uneasy. Those in the legal profession are aghast.
 
His media interviews are drawing the wrong kind of attention and in the words of former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman (right), the prosecutor-for-hire is fueling the perception that it was indeed a political plot to put Anwar behind bars.
 
At a forum organised by Umno Youth last night, Shafee took matters to new heights or rather record lows when he described lewd details of what purportedly transpired between Anwar and his accuser in their alleged moment of passion.
 
Laying bare the in-camera evidence to his audience, the Umno lawyer left nothing to the imagination.
 
Prior to that, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had defended the need to harp on the sodomy case, but Shafee’s lurid public disclosure would have failed Oxford’s etiquette test.
 
Out of sight, but not out of mind
 
Since 1998, Anwar has accused his rivals of planning his downfall and engineering a number of fabricated charges to hammer nails into his political coffin. The government has repeatedly denied this.
 
The cases involving the opposition leader have also rendered devastating blows to the reputation of the judiciary, forcing the chief justice to call on the public not to run down the esteemed institution, which invited even more ridicule instead.
 
Conspiracy or not, the fact is that Anwar, much to the chagrin of his adversaries, is a determined political survivor. He has endured attacks after attacks for over a decade, and at the age of 67, he shows little signs of relenting.
 
Now that he is in prison again, his foes are hoping that the people will forget him in time - a case of out of sight and out of mind.
 
But instead of his supporters straining their cerebrums to devise methods to keep him relevant, it appears that Shafee is doing them a favour.
 
The senior lawyer’s comments continue to provide fodder to the opposition and the pornographic recap at the Umno Youth forum yesterday is bound to incur even more wrath and criticism.
 
As one critic, Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) Amidi Abd Manan, noted, Shafee’s continued statements on the Federal Court verdict proves that the judgment was weak and lacked moral fibre.
 
Forget the candlelight vigils and street protests. Shafee, who obviously does not subscribe to the belief that silence is golden, will ensure that Malaysia never forget Anwar Ibrahim.

 
RK ANAND is a member of the Malaysiakini team.