Anwar Says He Has Enough Lawmakers to Topple Govt

By VIJAY JOSHI / AP WRITER

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday he has more than enough pledges of support from ruling coalition lawmakers to topple the government, and he urged the prime minister to give up power voluntarily and peacefully.

Anwar'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 won an unprecedented 82 seats in the 222-member Parliament in March general elections, 30 short of a majority. During the last six months, Anwar has been wooing disgruntled lawmakers from the National Front.

"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."

He said the latest commitment arrived in the form of a signed note Tuesday morning.

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. An aide to Abdullah said the prime minister is not planning to meet with Anwar. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.

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. He also warned the National Front not to invoke harsh security laws to arrest the defecting lawmakers.

"We are firm that victory is finally at hand. Our vision of rebuilding this country ... is within reach," he said.

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.

Still, 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.

Anwar was charged again with sodomy for allegedly raping a young male aide. He has dismissed both sodomy accusations as political conspiracies to thwart his rise. No date has been set for his trial for the latest sodomy charge, which upon conviction is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

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.

Since then, Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia's most stable countries, has been caught in political turmoil, hitting financial markets and business confidence.

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. The journalist was released Saturday.