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Malaysia's political battle gets nastier
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ebrahim says he has no moral qualms about toppling the government with lawmaker defections, claiming the country cannot afford to wait four years for the next elections to bring about change.
- AP
- Published: 23:28 August 24, 2008
Permatang Pauh, Malaysia: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ebrahim says he has no moral qualms about toppling the government with lawmaker defections, claiming the country cannot afford to wait four years for the next elections to bring about change.
"Four years will be disastrous for the economy, the political system, the judiciary," Anwar said late Saturday while on a campaign trail.
Anwar tomorrow will contest a by-election from the northern district of Permatang Pauh for a seat in Parliament. He is expected to win easily despite facing an imminent trial on the charge of sodomising a male aide, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Anwar's aides say a large group of ruling coalition lawmakers is waiting for him to enter parliament so they can defect.
A former deputy prime minister with ambitions for the top job, Anwar has said he will bringing down the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by September 16.
In general elections on March 8, Anwar's three-party opposition alliance won an unprecedented 82 of Parliament's 222 seats - 30 short of a majority - as well as control of five states. Anwar rejected criticism that a government formed by defections would have no moral authority to rule. He said the opposition would have come to power anyway had the elections been totally fair.
Mismanagement
Also, the country is reeling from economic mismanagement and corruption, and should not have to wait for four years to change the government, he said.
"Number one, you have a situation where the election was stolen from you. Number two, there is no direction, no leadership. Can you imagine - with this leadership, this policy, this crime rate, this economy - can the country manage and survive for four years?" he said.
"My point is, we will lose a lot if we wait for four years," he said.
Anwar could not contest the March elections because of a ban on holding political office stemming from a previous corruption conviction. It was slapped on him in 1998 when he was also charged and later convicted of sodomy. The sodomy conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2004, but the political ban remained in force until April.
Anwar's campaign machinery in his district has overshadowed that of the ruling National Front.
Electoral roll: Tricky deals suspected
Malaysia's opposition expressed concerns yesterday that the government may be resorting to fraud in a by-election this week to prevent opposition leader Anwar Ebrahim from entering Parliament.
Sivarasa Rasiah, a vice president of Anwar's People's Justice Party, accused the Election Commission of violating the law by using a new electoral roll that hasn't been officially approved for tomorrow's polling.
"They are using an illegal list. The Election Commission, which is custodian of the conduct of elections, is willfully violating the law," Sivarasa said.
Although the Election Commission is an independent body, critics often accuse it of acting on the government's wishes. Sivarasa said that under Malaysian law, any new list of voters must be publicly exhibited to allow for objections before its final approval.
A total of 949 voters who were listed in the last official roll approved in June are missing in the new roll, Sivarasa said. The party conducted checks and found that more than 800 of them are still living in the area but would become ineligible to vote because their names are missing.
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