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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has vowed to seize power from a 'corrupt' government at a rally of some 15,000 supporters as he fights back against new sodomy accusations.
In an impassioned speech to a packed stadium on Tuesday night, Mr Anwar said it was time to boot out the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition which has governed Malaysia for a half a century since independence from Britain.
'The BN government cannot be trusted to manage the economy of this country because there is too much corruption,' he told the crowd which shouted the opposition battlecry of 'Reformasi' or 'Reform'.
'Time is up, you get out, let us move in!' Mr Anwar said to loud cheers.
Mr Anwar, a former deputy premier who was sacked a decade ago and spent six years in prison on sodomy and corruption counts, made a stunning return to politics in March elections that dealt the BN an unprecedented setback.
The 60-year-old political maverick said the new accusations of sexual assault by a 23-year-old male aide who volunteered in his office for several months 'never happened'.
'I will fight these allegations day and night and I won't accept defeat over these evil lies,' he said. Sodomy is a criminal offence in this conservative and predominantly Muslim country.
Despite Mr Anwar's fighting words, his Keadilan party said Wednesday it was making a contingency plan to run the three-member opposition alliance in case he was taken into custody.
'Anwar wants to ensure that things can continue without him and we will have this plan ready shortly in that eventuality,' said information chief Tian Chua. 'The whole leadership must be prepared to face an alliance without (him).'
Mr Anwar has said he is poised to form a government with the help of defecting lawmakers from the ruling coalition, putting intense pressure on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who faces calls to quit over the polls debacle.
'They are still in a state of denial now that we have wrested so much power from them,' Mr Anwar told the crowd, adding he had evidence that the government was mounting a conspiracy to humiliate him.
The stadium in suburban Kuala Lumpur was decorated with posters showing Mr Anwar with a black eye, inflicted in a severe beating by the police chief shortly after his sacking.
'Don't let this happen again,' read the caption.
Mr Anwar fled to the Turkish embassy on the weekend, saying he feared for his life after being informed he could be targeted with a government assassination attempt.
He left his refuge on Monday after the government guaranteed his safety, but precautions were tight at the rally and he was separated from the crowd by metal barricades and security personnel along its perimeter.
Mr Anwar also took aim at the government's unpopular 41 percent fuel price hike this month, and invited the crowd to take part in a major anti-inflation rally on July 6 which organisers hope will attract one million people.
'I promise that the day we take power, the very next day oil prices will drop in Malaysia,' he said.
Mr Tian Chua said the turnout at the rally would be 'massive' in light of the recent political drama.
'It will be a combination of the petrol hike and price rises and it is aimed at showing the government that the people are very unhappy with the way the prime minister is running this country,' he said.
Opposition supporters in the crowd said their faith in the charismatic leader was not shaken by the new scandal.
'All these allegations against Anwar are false and the government is grasping at straws to try and destroy him, but this will not work,' said Mr Adlin Syufikah Ismail.
'The people are 100 per cent behind Mr Anwar,' said the 31-year-old marketing executive, dressed in a blue Muslim headscarf and traditional flowing dress. -- AFP
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