Ezam vows to 'diminish' Anwar's influence

Former aide and once part of the backbone of PKR, Ezam Mohd Noor, has said it again - he vows to "diminish" his former boss Anwar Ibrahim’s influence until he succeeds.

Despite the Kuala Terengganu by-election result last Saturday, when PAS bagged a victory against arch rival Barisan Nasional (BN), Ezam made it clear that he would not be deterred from seeing that his former boss disappears from the political scene.

“As far as I’m concerned, my role is to basically tell the truth about Anwar...as a whole I can see positive impacts (from the exposure of a letter by Anwar),” he said when contacted.

Last week, during a ceramah at Kg Kubang Parit, Ezam had revealed a letter alleging that Anwar had made an attempt to make peace with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad after the deputy prime minister’s controversial sacking in 1998.

“This letter was written after he was sacked and after he had strongly criticised Mahathir. From this letter, the nation and not just the people of Kuala Terengganu, can evaluate what kind of leader Anwar is,” he had said.

Yesterday he said: “People have started being critical of Anwar after my exposure and the letter I revealed has raised questions not only among people in BN, but in Pakatan (Rakyat) too.

“To me, anything to diminish Anwar’s influence is a (good) process but it cannot happen overnight.”

Ezam returned to Umno’s fold after a fallout with Anwar and PKR vice-president Azmin Ali last year.

Ezam went on the offensive by campaigning against the PKR de facto leader during the Permatang Pauh by-election last August.

However, Anwar took the seat with a landslide victory against Umno’s Arif Shah Omar Shah.

But Anwar’s influence, according to Ezam, has “diminished” since and “Anwar is slowly losing support”.

“You cannot take the Permatang Pauh by-election as a measure of his influence because that was his stronghold and the Sept 16 aura was still strong then.

“But I’m sure with the help of my exposure, he is slowly losing support and it was proven in the Kuala Terengganu by-election."

'Erdogan' group in PAS

Ezam further claimed that Anwar has caused factions to be formed in Pakatan partner PAS, leading to the emergence of a pro-Anwar group popularly known as 'Erdogan'.

“It is quite evident that there are factions in PAS. Why didn’t Erdogan and non-Erdogan groups appear before? ...It happened partly because they start to know the real Anwar,” claimed Ezam.

The Erdogan group, considered to be a 'non-extreme' faction, is said to comprise vice-president Husam Musa (left), Batu Buruk assemblyperson Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi, Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad and Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad.

Ezam said none of the Erdogan faction was with Mohd Abdul Wahid when he was declared a winner during the Kuala Terengganu by-election.

“During the announcement, who surrounded him? As far as I’m concerned, none of the Erdogan group was there. (PAS president Abdul) Hadi Awang was there, (PAS commissioner) Mustapha Ali and (PAS deputy president) Nasharuddin Mt Isa also were there.

“(But) where was Erdogan (group)? Where was Syed Azman, where was Husam? If Husam could go to the Permatang Pauh by-election, why couldn’t he go to Kuala Terengganu?”

Asked if newly-elected Kuala Terengganu MP Mohd Abdul Wahid belongs to the non-Erdogan group, Ezam replied: “He does not belong to the Erdogan group but I would not say he’s anti-Anwar.”