Anwar sworn in as lawmaker

2008-08-28 07:34

Kuala Lumpur - Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim took his place on Thursday as a member of Malaysia's Parliament, a major step in his goal to topple a government weakened by electoral defeats and internal dissent.

Anwar, dressed in dark blue traditional Malay shirt, pants and cap, was sworn in as a legislator in a simple ceremony in the main chamber of Parliament amid loud thumping of desks by opposition members.

"I am glad to be back after a decade. I really feel vindicated. I feel great," said Anwar, who was forced to resign his Parliament seat in 1999 amid a sodomy allegation.

Anwar, who is facing a new sodomy allegation, was formally declared the leader of the three-party opposition alliance after he took the oath of office. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and most Cabinet ministers were not present.

Anwar, 61, regained his parliamentary seat in the northern Penang state by a landslide in a by-election on Tuesday in which only one district was contested. It came on the heels of big gains by the opposition in the March general elections that loosed the government's 51-year grip on power.

Tuesday's election result is a "second political tsunami. The government is a Titanic that will sink," said Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party, a component of the opposition alliance.

Anwar has said he aims to be the next prime minister after bringing down the government by September 16 via defections from disaffected members of Abdullah's ruling coalition.

Future PM?

"Anwar - whatever we think of him and many of us are deeply sceptical - is looking more and more like our future Prime Minister," wrote columnist Karim Raslan in The Star daily on Thursday.

"There is a mounting sense of inevitability to his impending succession," he wrote.

But significant hurdles remain, the biggest of them a new criminal charge that he sodomised a 23-year-old male aide. No date has been set for the trial. Under Malaysian law, even consensual sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

Anwar has dismissed the accusation as a "most sickening" political conspiracy by the government to thwart his rise. A recent opinion poll appeared to endorse that view.

Anwar said his September 16 "plan is still on", but refused to give details.

"Clearly the prime minister has lost the mandate of the country," he said, adding that his fight is not just against Abdullah but the entire ruling party "clique and their cronies who have amassed billions".

Besides the challenge from Anwar, Prime Minister Abdullah is also facing internal opposition.

'I believe we can still continue the government'

Veteran government lawmaker Razaleigh Hamzah, who wants to challenge Abdullah for the leadership of their United Malays National Organisation party, said Anwar's victory meant that "what scraps of credibility (Abdullah) had left" were gone.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also said, "Abdullah must take responsibility and resign now."

His lawmaker son Mukhriz Mahathir also said that with Anwar in Parliament, "we cannot afford to have a weak leadership because it could lead to our downfall".

Abdullah rejected the calls. "I believe we can still continue the government," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Bernama national news agency.

Abdullah's party has been the main pillar of the National Front coalition that has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1957. And since 1969, it held a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

But in the March 8 general elections, the coalition returned to power with a simple majority of 140 seats in the 222-member house.

Anwar's People's Alliance coalition increased its strength from 19 to 82 seats and needs 30 more to form a government.

- AP