[View Obama's response]

With the United States being a strong proponent of democracy, Damansara Utama state assemblyperson Yeo Bee Yin said she expected more from its president.

Yeo was asked to respond to Barack Obama's answer to her question about the jailing of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the crackdown on the opposition in Malaysia.

"His response was, perhaps, diplomatically and politically correct.

"However, as a nation that prides itself of its democracy, I did hope that the president would speak more strongly against such abuse of power," she told Malaysiakini .

Yeo had put the question to the US president at the White House yesterday in his question and answer session with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Fellows.

Obama had said that as a rule, he did not comment on specific cases in the US, much less in other countries.

Without referring to Anwar, he said that in general terms, if a well-known opposition leader is charged for a crime, the adjudication process would be open to scrutiny.

He added that everyone must guard against any 'chilling effect' on the potential of the opposition becoming the government.

Yeo noted that Obama had only "very subtly" touched on the judiciary and the legitimacy of the process with regards to Anwar's recent trial and conviction in Malaysia.

She urged Malaysians to continue to struggle for democracy in Malaysia regardless of the US' support.

"We as Malaysians should continue to fight our own battle to promote democracy and freedom, with or without US support," she said.