Anwar: More support than needed to topple gov't
The Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia's opposition leader said Tuesday he has more than enough pledges of support from ruling coalition lawmakers to topple the government, and urged the prime minister to give up power voluntarily.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's claims — his strongest yet and seemingly beyond the likelihood of a bluff — signaled he could be on the verge of nudging the ruling National Front coalition from power for the first time since independence in 1957.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi brushed off Anwar's claims. "This is Anwar's mirage. It is nothing. It is merely a dream," he said.
Anwar's People's Alliance coalition won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament in March general elections, 30 short of a majority. But during the last six months, he has been wooing disgruntled lawmakers from the National Front to defect.
The Associated Press
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysia's opposition leader said Tuesday he has more than enough pledges of support from ruling coalition lawmakers to topple the government, and urged the prime minister to give up power voluntarily.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's claims — his strongest yet and seemingly beyond the likelihood of a bluff — signaled he could be on the verge of nudging the ruling National Front coalition from power for the first time since independence in 1957.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi brushed off Anwar's claims. "This is Anwar's mirage. It is nothing. It is merely a dream," he said.
Anwar's People's Alliance coalition won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament in March general elections, 30 short of a majority. But during the last six months, he has been wooing disgruntled lawmakers from the National Front to defect.
"We have received firm commitments from MPs (members of parliament) in excess of the number required to form a new government," Anwar told reporters. "It is increasing by the hour. I am not joking."
Anwar refused to give an exact number or to name the lawmakers, saying they will be subject to harassment by the government or even detention.
He said the opposition alliance is now seeking a meeting with Abdullah to stake claim to the government and to give him the opportunity to exit gracefully.
Abdullah told reporters later he won't meet Anwar until the opposition leader makes public the names of the defectors.
On Monday, Anwar told a massive rally of supporters that he is willing to give Abdullah one or two weeks to accept defeat and resign.
But "there is a limit to one's patience, particularly when we have the numbers," Anwar said Tuesday.
If Anwar pulls it off, it would signal a remarkable turnaround for a man once considered a star of Asian politics, only to be toppled in 1998 and imprisoned on a sodomy conviction. The conviction was overturned in 2004 after he had served six years in jail for a related corruption conviction.
He was seen as a political spent force until he stitched together an unlikely coalition of three diverse political parties, including his multiracial People's Justice Party, last year ahead of the March 8 general elections.
Meanwhile, the ruling National Front coalition has been weakened by dissent against Abdullah, who lost much of his clout after presiding over the government's worst-ever election results.
On Monday, Abdullah suffered another setback when the law minister resigned in protest against the use of a draconian security law to detain a journalist, an anti-government blogger and an opposition lawmaker on Friday.