Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) jumped to the defence of its advisor, Anwar Ibrahim, who came under savage attack at the ruling Umno general assembly this week.

The PKR youth wing is particularly piqued by the remarks made by deputy Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who blasted Anwar for being a traitor to the Malay race.

The wing's vice-chief Sharifah Shahidah Syed Kamaruzaman said by attacking Anwar, who is a former Umno deputy president, Khairy was seeking to shield himself and his father-in-law - Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - from criticism.

"He was attempting to divert attention from the controversies and speculations surrounding him and the prime minister," Sharifah said in a statement today.

She said that Anwar, when he was in government, had never acquired stakes in big companies such as financial services firm ECM Libra and oil-and-gas giant Scomi - both of which are linked to Khairy and Abdullah's son, Kamaluddin, respectively.

"On corruption, Anwar had shown his determination to curb the menace by amending the Anti-Corruption Act when he was acting prime minister," added Sharifah.

For a brief period in 1997, Anwar was put in charge by former boss Dr Mahathir Mohamad when the then prime minister went on a two-month leave.

As acting prime minister, Anwar had sought to tighten the Anti-Corruption Act by allowing the prosecution of ministers even after they have left office.

Sharifah said that in contrast, the three years under Abdullah's leadership saw Malaysia's image taking a dip and this was reflected by the recent survey by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International which showed the nation's ranking has dropped five notches.

She said that instead of attacking Anwar, the Umno rising star should be probed for the allegations of abuse of power in his dealings with ECM Libra, in which he was a former director.

Khairy, during the wrapping-up session of the Umno Youth general assembly on Monday, said a certain "former deputy president of the party" had called for the abolishment of the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Without naming Anwar, he said that this former Umno leader had in recent interviews argued that the NEP was benefiting "only cronies and Umnoputera".

According to Khairy, "the very person who questioned the policy was also a beneficiary of the policy".

Narrow-minded racialism

Meanwhile, acting PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin also threw his weight behind Anwar's assertions that the NEP must go.

"The NEP has been a failure because it failed to achieve the objective of bringing development to the Malays, while it has been successful in creating corruption, cronyism and nepotism," he said.

He argued that the New Economic Agenda which was mooted by Anwar was more relevant to the current times and can bring benefits to all races as well as doing away with the narrow-minded racialism of the NEP.

As to Umno Youth's repeated warnings to non-Muslims not to broach the issue of Interfaith Council and Article 11 involving freedom of religion, Shamsul said that such matters should be democratically discussed so that a consensus could be reached.

He added that it was not wise to use draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act and the threat of "gangsterism" to stop Malaysians from discussing such vital issues.

"We are committed to a continuation of an open discussion on religion and race in a responsible and open manner as this will have a direct impact on all Malaysians," said the acting Youth chief.