Abdullah dismisses possibility of Anwar being PM

Malaysian PM dismisses possibility of Anwar being PM
28 Aug, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will not be the prime minister by Sept. 16, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in Johor Bahru, capital of Malaysian southern Johor state, local media reported on Thursday.

The prime minister said on Wednesday he was not worried by Anwar's threats despite the latter's victory in the by-election.

Neither did Badawi believe that any BN (the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional) members of parliament would join opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact).

"We are well aware of his threats, but as far as we are concerned, we will look after our people. We will continue to perform and we don't have to worry (about Anwar becoming prime minister)," the New Straits Times quoted Badawi as saying.

"BN members of parliament will not leave the party. That is not possible. They have promised to remain in BN," Badawi said.

Anwar, who won the by-election on Tuesday with a majority of 15,671 votes over BN candidate Arif Shah Omar Shah, had announced earlier this year that he would become prime minister by Sept. 16.

Speaking to the press on Wednesday after accompanying Sultan ofBrunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on his visit to the Malaysian southern Iskandar economic corridor, Badawi said he was not overly worried by the results of the by-election.

Asked whether the increased majority, compared with the 13,388 majority-vote garnered by Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the March 8 election were "warning signs" to BN, Badawi dismissed the idea.

"After all, the last general election gave us a strong victory. We are only eight seats short of a two-thirds majority, it is not that we lost by 20 or 30 seats, only eight seats. We have a very strong government," Badawi said.

Asked for the reasons behind BN's loss, Badawi said: "We haven't made an analysis yet, it is better for me to answer after that."

Badawi however congratulated Anwar on his victory.

"I'd like to congratulate Anwar for his win. For us in BN, it is a result which we accept, since it is the people's choice. However, this is not a bad loss for BN.

"Anwar was expected to win strongly enough for the BN candidate to lose his deposit, meaning that he (Anwar) needed a majority of more than 17,000 votes, but this did not happen," he added.