ISA was used against Anwar when he fought for poverty issues in Baling - Saifuddin

SHAH ALAM - Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has slammed Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor for his statement that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is not qualified to talk about poverty.

He said the Tambun MP had been championing poverty issues since the early days of his involvement in the political arena.

"Let's reflect on this fact, the Internal Security Act (ISA) was used to detain Anwar for the first time because he had highlighted on the poverty issues in Baling.

"After graduating from Universiti Malaya, he went ahead to open Yayasan Anda in Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur. The school was built to give a second chance to students who came from poor families.

"In his first week as the Prime Minister, he immediately announced cash aids to paddy farmers who were generally known as being poor," he said in a Facebook post

Saifuddin explained that Sanusi's attack on Anwar, was just a distraction or a cover up for the people of Kedah's rage, towards his leadership as he has not managed to solve the issue of water supply in the state

"What other ways can he redirect this anger?" he questioned.

Saifuddin also expressed confidence that the people will not easily indulge Sanusi's naive statement.

Recently, it was reported that Sanusi belittled Anwar's commitment to eradicate extreme poverty in Malaysia, claiming that Anwar knows nothing about poverty.

He explained tha this was due to Anwar's family background, whwere he was born into an Umno family and received education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK).

"He (Anwar) talks about the poor, but has he ever been poor?.

"He is the son of an Umno leader. His father is a Member of Parliament while his mother is a member of Wanita Umno. He even studied at MCKK," he said when speaking at the Perikatan Nasional (PN) campaign programme which was held at Tanjong Karang, Selangor last night.