KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s main Islamic party will remain loyal to an opposition alliance despite holding secret talks with the prime minister, de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday.
Anwar is leading a loose alliance of three opposition parties, including Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), to try to seize power from the government by mid-September. But it was feared that plan could hit snags after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and PAS leaders said at the weekend that they had held a series of “unity talks”.
Anwar said there was no question of PAS abandoning the opposition bloc.
“For now, I have no reason to question the intention of the PAS leadership,” Anwar, who is also under pressure over a sodomy allegation, told a news conference.
“They have given an assurance to me that the collaboration with the opposition remains and is unchanged.”
Anwar said the opposition plan to take over power by its self-imposed deadline of September 16 remained on track.
“It is not a question of toppling the government but to ensure that the people win. I have said that I am the prime minister in waiting,” Anwar said.
The former deputy premier is leading the charge by the opposition to oust the government at a time when the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, in power since independence from Britain in 1957, is facing its worst crisis in 50 years.
The political uncertainty has roiled financial markets and unnerved investors.
Anwar is also facing a sodomy allegation from a former aide that could derail his takeover plan. He has not been charged but the claim mirrors events in 1998, when his rise was halted by a jail term for sodomy and corruption.
Malaysian Interior Minister Syed Hamid Albar met foreign diplomats yesterday and warned them against meddling in Malaysia’s domestic affairs.
“We can determine our political stability,” he told reporters.
The US had earlier cautioned against any politically motivated investigation into Anwar. Malaysia has written to Washington to express regret over the statement. New York-based Human Rights Watch has said the allegation against Anwar “lacked credibility”. Anwar says he is the victim of a high-level conspiracy to thwart the opposition.
Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in mainly Muslim Malaysia. – Reuters