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©The
Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
by Reme Ahmad, Assistant Foreign Editor
Anwar says PM and Najib have lost mandate to rule
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that Prime
Minister Abdullah Badawi and his deputy Najib Razak had lost the mandate to
rule.
Speaking soon after being sworn in as an MP, Datuk Seri Anwar insisted that
his plan to topple the government by Sept 16 was still on track.
But he was vague on specifics, causing Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders to say
that he was lying.
Still, Mr Anwar's sabre-rattling was enough to put some BN MPs on the
defensive.
About 20 BN MPs from Sabah and Sarawak called a press conference to tell
reporters that they would sign a pledge of loyalty, which would be submitted
to PM Abdullah today.
Despite the public denials, there was a renewed buzz among politicians
yesterday about who was the most likely to defect to the opposition.
Speaking soon after his swearing-in, Mr Anwar said: 'The Prime Minister has
lost the mandate of the country. The Deputy Prime Minister, who spearheaded
the (Permatang Pauh by-election) campaign, has been rejected outright. To
me, it's not just Abdullah and Najib (who have been rejected) but their
entire Umno clique and cronies who have amassed billions.'
Mr Anwar, who was appointed Parliamentary Opposition Leader, was speaking at
the lobby of Parliament, swarmed by local and foreign media.
He was sworn in just five days short of the 10th anniversary of when he was
sacked from all his political posts on Sept 2, 1998.
He was then the Deputy Prime Minister and Prime-Minister-in-waiting.
His return to Parliament has led to views emerging in Malaysia that there
are now two PMs-in-waiting in Parliament, the other being Datuk Seri Najib.
Asked repeatedly about his Sept 16 plan to topple the government, Mr Anwar
said it was 'on track'. He told journalists they would be given details 'at
the right time'.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, which he leads, needs at least
30 BN MPs defectors to topple the ruling coalition, which has ruled Malaysia
since independence.
The multiracial message brought by the PR under Mr Anwar has attracted many
non-Malays, who form about 40 per cent of the 27 million population.
But a scrutiny by political analyst Ong Kian Ming of Tuesday's by-election
in Permatang Pauh has also shown that Malays are still firmly behind Mr
Anwar, ignoring the barrage of attacks BN has levelled against him,
including accusations that he would sell out Malay interests for power.
Mr Ong said that 62 per cent of Malays voted for Mr Anwar in the
by-election, up 3 percentage points from the March general election. This
compared with 78 per cent support from Chinese voters, up 1 percentage
point.
'Secure with this knowledge, Anwar should feel confident that he can press
on with his self-appointed task of toppling the BN government, partly
because he can make the argument that a majority of Malays support him (even
though this was only proved in Permatang Pauh),' Mr Ong wrote on the
Malaysiakini news website.
Anwar can't 'buy' Barisan MPs
HE MAY have returned to Parliament but opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim will not be able to 'buy' the MPs needed for him to form the
new government, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The former Malaysian premier was commenting on Datuk Seri Anwar's claim that
the Pakatan Rakyat coalition could form the federal government by Sept 16.
To do that, he needs to get 30 Members of Parliament from the ruling Barisan
Nasional (BN) coalition to defect.
'I still doubt he can get the MPs to switch to his side,' Dr Mahathir told
Bernama on Wednesday.
'He thinks he can buy them but other leaders have got a lot more money. It
is not possible for him to buy the leaders.'
Mr Anwar was sworn in as an MP yesterday, after he emerged victorious in
Tuesday's Permatang Pauh by-election. His return, Dr Mahathir felt, would
lead to 'a tough time for the BN' and Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.
'I don't think Abdullah is a match for Anwar. This man (Anwar) can convince
even the devil to follow him. He is going to raise all kinds of issues and
questions and will demand and pressure the Prime Minister for answers,' he
said.
But Dr Mahathir said he was willing to return to the party's fold and work
towards reviving it if Datuk Seri Abdullah would step down before the 2010
deadline he had previously set.
'If changes are made two years from now, then Umno will face an uphill task
to gain strength and the people's confidence,' he said.
This was already reflected in the BN losing the by-election by a larger
margin than the general election, he added.
Dr Mahathir felt the results would have been repeated even if the election
was not held in Permatang Pauh.
In his latest blog entry, he also said that the people will not support Mr
Abdullah, even if Umno and BN do.
'You can continue supporting Abdullah as party president, but the people
won't support Umno because it has become a tool for Abdullah and his
family,' he wrote.
'When the 13th general election looms, the people will remove Umno and
Barisan because it is the only way they can remove Abdullah...because Umno
and Barisan is unwilling to act, the people would have to act.'
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