Now even Ummi is helping Najib to wriggle out of Anwar debate

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Ummi Hafilda Ali has challenged her estranged brother PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to an open debate, vowing to campaign against them in the next general election.

The 43-year-old businesswoman, who was the key witness in Anwar’s sodomy and abuse of power trials in 1999, said Anwar should debate with her before challenging Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to an open debate.

“I challenge Anwar and Azmin to debate with me before offering themselves as the country’s leaders,” she said at a press conference yesterday.

Ummi Hafilda also denied claims that she was being paid by Barisan Nasional to go against the two, stating said she was speaking out now after more than a decade as the time was ripe.

“I kept silent all this while because my mother asked me to be patient. I am a very patriotic person and I cannot keep quiet anymore.

“The coming election is also another reason as I cannot see them attempt to take over the country.

“I will campaign against them with or without Barisan’s support. There is no conspiracy. I will do what I can to save the country from them,” she said, adding that she also wanted to clear her name.

Ummi Hafilda, who was accompanied by her lawyer, Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, also reiterated that they would soon be filing separate legal suits totalling RM700mil against Anwar, his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Azmin, veteran lawyer Karpal Singh and PAS for grievances in the 1990s.

Ummi Hafilda claimed that Anwar had abused his power as deputy prime minister in 1997 by ordering her arrest.

When asked if she would lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission against Anwar and Azmin, Ummi Hafilda declined to commit and merely stated that others would complain even if she didn’t.

Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 and later convicted of sodomy and corruption charges. He spent six years behind bars before being released in 2004 after the Federal Court overturned his sodomy conviction.