YAN, July 16 – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has challenged Perikatan Nasional (PN) to take legal action regarding his statement that the party received gambling funds in the 15th General Election (GE15). Anwar said he is prepared to be sued or face legal action if his statement that the party received funds from gambling companies is defamatory. “Where did this money come from? Gambling money! I repeat, I mentioned gambling money before, tonight I want to mention gambling money that has helped them a lot.
“If they want to challenge, let them challenge. If they dare, they can sue me. “Pas claims they don’t know. If you live in the village, it’s fine. But they sit in the Cabinet. All the time shouting Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, they let it be like that,” he said. He made these remarks during a speech at the Unity Outreach Program and Unity Machinery in Kedah at Padang Awam Guar Chempedak on Saturday.
Anwar added that PN’s action of increasing the number of lottery draws from eight to 22 times during their administration was not done for free. Furthermore, Anwar, as the Finance Minister, stated that he had personally seen files related to the matter. “I, as the Leader of the Opposition, strongly attacked, but what they did was illegal gambling,” he said. In this regard, he hoped that leaders of the Perpaduan Government, especially UMNO, would not continue to be defensive and instead take a strong approach to fight against PN.
