Malaysia Anwar upbeat as PM faces mounting pressure
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will tell thousands of supporters at a rally on Monday that he is still confident of unseating the coalition that has ruled the country for over half a century.
The rally, expected to draw 30,000 supporters to a stadium in the opposition-held state of Selangor in central Malaysia, comes on the eve of Anwar's bid to lure 30 MPs from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to his opposition bloc.
"My personal target is within September," Anwar told the Asian Wall Street Journal in a interview published on Monday.
Anwar's aides will hand a letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday seeking a meeting with him for a "peaceful power transition" to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat alliance, one of his party officials said.
"I don't think the Sept. 16 plan is going to happen as he doesn't have enough numbers and some of the Barisan MPs have not returned from overseas," said one foreign diplomat. "The plan could be delayed to Sept. 20."
Sept. 20 was the date Anwar was arrested 10 years ago after falling out with the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Earlier last week, the government sent 50 of its 140 MPs on a study trip to Taiwan. Some have since returned home.
No comments:
Post a Comment