Pakatan Rakyat to take over 'by Sept 16'

First time Anwar puts a deadline to fall of BN govt

KOTA KINABALU, April 23 — By Malaysia Day, Pakatan Rakyat will form the new government. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said that he expected the crossover of Barisan Nasional MPs to take place before Sept 16.

This was the first time that the defacto leader of the Opposition alliance has put a deadline to the collapse of the Abdullah administration. His choice of Malaysia Day is interesting given that today’s press conference was in Kota Kinabalu and he is due to visit Kuching soon. The people of Sabah and Sarawak have a special attachment for Sept 16 – the day they became part of Malaysia.

By putting a deadline, Anwar is attempting to rattle further the Abdullah Badawi-led coalition already weakened by infighting in Umno and hamstrung by the difficulty MCA, MIC and Gerakan are having in reinventing themselves.

But this gambit is also a double-edged sword. The former deputy prime minister is also putting his just regained credibility with Malaysians at stake. If Sept 16 comes and goes without incident, he can expect Malaysians to be more skeptical and questioning of anything he says in future.

The confident Anwar said that Pakatan Rakyat already had the commitment from BN MPs who were willing to crossover but was in no hurry to force the collapse of the BN government. The Opposition needs 30 of the 140 BN representatives to form the new government.

“God willing we will be there. If not next month, the following month, if not June or July, on Merdeka (Aug 31) or Malaysia Day. I think we should not exceed beyond that,” he said. He claimed that his moves were being monitored closely but threw a challenge to the authorities to stop him from meeting BN MPs.

“My talks could be done in Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong although it might sound like a joke,” he said.

When told that Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman was confident that BN MPs and coalition partners were loyal to the ruling coalition, Anwar quipped that the Sabah leader was being less than truthful.

“If he wants to know, I can meet him privately and tell him,” he said. Anwar will be using his trip to East Malaysia to flesh out plans by the Opposition to give Sabah and Sarawak a greater share of oil royalties and address issues unique to the two states including the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.

His trip will also spark another round of speculating who among the MPs in Sabah and Sarawak are planning to change their political stripes soon.