Anwar plans to run in 'imminent' by-election

Anwar plans to run in 'imminent' by-election
Jul 24, 2008
The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim revealed plans yesterday to contest an 'imminent' by-election to enable him to return to Parliament and become prime minister if the opposition seizes power.

Datuk Seri Anwar has pledged that his three-party opposition alliance will topple Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's administration through parliamentary defections by mid-September.

Many government officials have dismissed it as an empty threat.

Mr Anwar must become a Member of Parliament before he can replace Datuk Seri Abdullah as prime minister. He told reporters yesterday that he was discussing plans with his allies 'on the possibility of an imminent by-election'.

The former deputy prime minister indicated that one of his Parti Keadilan Rakyat lawmakers might give up a parliamentary seat in Kedah to enable him to run in a by-election.

Mr Anwar reiterated that he wanted to announce his candidacy in a by-election late last month but claimed the plan was derailed after a former male aide accused the opposition leader of sodomising him.

The 60-year-old politician insists that the accusation was concocted to stem his threat to the government, which has been reeling from unprecedented losses in the March general election.

The government has denied any conspiracy and assured Mr Anwar that the police would conduct a fair investigation.

His alliance needs defections by at least 30 lawmakers in the ruling coalition to form a majority in the 222-member Parliament - a goal that he claimed was 'very much on track' to be achieved by mid-September.

'I know you are eager. So am I,' Mr Anwar said. 'People are tired of the political turmoil.'

The months-long political confusion has angered Malaysians, hit by the double whammy of rising costs and a slower economy, and a growing view that too much time is wasted on politics rather than trying to fix the economy.

The government yesterday said Malaysia's annual inflation rate jumped to a 26-year high of 7.7 per cent last month, due to the substantial rise in fuel prices.

Mr Anwar, when asked about the Malay unity talks between his ally Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Umno, said he believed that the Islamic party would remain loyal to the opposition alliance.

'For now, I have no reason to question the intention of the PAS leadership,' he said.

'They have given me an assurance that the collaboration with the opposition remains and is unchanged.'

Observers said the series of discreet meetings between PAS and Umno leaders had shaken the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance, which also includes the Democratic Action Party, at a time when it had been weakened by the sodomy allegations against Mr Anwar.

Also yesterday, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar briefed 96 foreign diplomats to counter a similar meeting Mr Anwar had with Western diplomats on Tuesday, officials said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS