Kuala Lumpur: Former Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has accused Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of reneging on a secret deal to respect the outcome of Malaysia's 13th General Election which he brokered between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and the opposition leader.The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Saturday that Jusuf had revealed that a written agreement was made between Najib and Anwar in April, refraining from personal attacks during the campaign and to accept the outcome of the May 5 polls, which was first proposed by Anwar.
According to Jusuf, Anwar approached him on the agreement two months ago, asking the latter to reach out to his opponent and secure his commitment for a peaceful election outcome.
However, WSJ said Anwar had claimed that Jusuf was the one who reached out to him to offer his assistance in ensuring an orderly outcome to the elections.
It reported that Anwar acknowledged he had made the agreement with Najib, with Jusuf as mediator, but he claimed that the Barisan Nasional (BN) had revoked it by the way it ran its campaign.
Jusuf also said that he had contacted Anwar, a day after the May 5 polls, to ask the opposition leader to accept the result.
"We had a commitment," Jusuf was quoted as saying. "On Monday, I asked Anwar to accept it and look at reality.
But they said, 'No, no, no, no."
The general election saw Najib-led Barisan Nasional returned to power by winning 133 of the 222 parliamentary seats, which saw the dissatisfied Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat staging rallies across the country since May 8.
Without criticising any party, Jusuf said he felt that both sides met their commitment to refrain from personal attacks during the campaign.
Jusuf had brokered peace agreements in various conflicts across the troubled Indonesian archipelago during his time as vice-president from 2004 to 2009, and had roles in peace negotiations in Thailand and Sri Lanka.-Bernama
