Finally, Foreign Media Corners Anwar on How Pakatan Would Deter Investment

Global media star Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim targets the international media because it gives him an easy ride. And he must have thought he was onto a winner Monday when he sat down to be interviewed by CNBC. After all, the last foreign journalist he spoke to seemed to buy his line that the government is out to have him murdered.
But despite some back-slapping, CNBC had done its homework. It challenged Anwar on the contradictory signals he is sending out and targeted Pakatan Rakyat's manifesto.
"How would you answer your critics who say your manifesto is more populism than true reform?" the interviewer asked.
Anwar had to pause before sidestepping the question, instead talking about "good governance" in the Pakatan states – poor economic performance and dodgy land deals notwithstanding. But the two CNBC presenters weren't finished there.
They cornered him on the "mixed messages" Pakatan is sending out: promising to wind back Bumiputra polices (which is unsurprisingly not detailed in the Pakatan manifesto) while at the same time paving the way for PAS' sharia law.
"We cannot deny the right of the Islamic party or Muslims to articulate their mission of what sharia stands for," Anwar responded.
"But we cannot allow them or any party to compel the party or non-Muslims to accept the sharia," he said, without mentioning that he could be powerless to stop PAS if it gets the numbers in GE13.
Given the CNBC programme has a business audience, Anwar was put on the spot about what a potential Pakatan government would mean for foreign investment. His interviewers said investors have liked the predictability under Najib, while Anwar threatens to abandon current projects already underway. This includes Lynas and RAPID which are named in Pakatan's manifesto.
This is the first time any foreign journalist has publicly pointed out to Anwar that a Pakatan government could be bad for business (something the stock market here already knows), and Anwar could only answer in terms of his big-spending socialist vision.
"I do support market economics," he claimed reassuringly, "but we must allow for some measure of distributive justice".
That sound you can here is the investment community heading for the door at the thought of his 1970s socialism. Could the last banker out of KLCC please turn off the lights?
The rest of the interview contained classic Anwar contradictions. He said "you cannot compare Malaysia to the Arab Spring", despite the fact he did exactly that a year ago. He was also asked a total softball question about the MACC which the journalist suggested was a "toothless tiger," despite its growing list of convicted offenders. Naturally, that one caused Anwar little discomfort.
This interview was never going to cause Anwar any sleepless nights, but for once, he was being asked about the contradictions within his coalition, the frailties of Pakatan's manifesto, and the idea that the business world doesn't want him in Seri Perdana.
In those respects he will have found this a tougher workout than his usual international media chit-chat.