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| Southeast Asia |
| Huge turnout as Malaysia's Anwar launches election bid |
| 2008-08-16 |
| A huge crowd cheered Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Saturday as he registered for a by-election to return him to parliament, the next step in his plan to become prime minister. The August 26 ballot in Anwar's home state of Penang is also seen as a test of his popularity after a young male aide accused him of sodomy -- the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago. "I am touched by the support. This is an overwhelming support," Anwar said as he arrived at the nomination centre in the Permatang Pauh constituency, which was locked down by barricades and an armed security presence. Some 30,000 supporters shouted Anwar's battle cry of "Reformasi" or "Reform", and waved party flags, facing off against 5,000 government supporters and trading taunts and insults. At least 3,000 police including the riot squad were deployed to keep the peace and a police helicopter hovered overhead. "We want change. The future is Anwar. Long live Anwar!" chanted supporters of the opposition leader, a former deputy premier who was sacked in 1998 and convicted on a sodomy charge that was later overturned. Anwar, 61, has said the sodomy allegations have been fabricated to prevent him from ousting the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, after March elections that handed the opposition alliance a third of parliamentary seats. He was formally charged earlier this month, just after his wife vacated the Permatang Pauh constituency -- which she has held since he went to jail -- to allow him to return to parliament after a decade-long absence. Anwar has said he is still pursuing his plan to wrest power within months, with the help of government defectors, despite the looming sodomy trial. On Friday, Anwar's accuser Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old former volunteer in the opposition leader's office, visited a mosque to swear he was telling the truth and challenged Anwar to do the same. He also said he was sodomised against his will, although when Anwar was formally accused in court the charge indicated the alleged sex act was consensual. Anwar said at a rally Friday night that Saiful's action was part of the government plot. "They are afraid of me being an MP and going on to become the opposition leader in parliament," he said. Sarimah Ali, a 33-year-old teacher who was among the huge crowd of Anwar supporters, said the renewed allegations were of no concern. "Nobody believes Saiful. His swearing in the mosque yesterday makes it more clear that it's a government conspiracy to bring down Anwar," he said. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 The government of the day which has held power for 51 years and badly screwed the people for some 40 years is fast losing its support. See that in most M'sian blogs, e.g. : http://tinyurl.com/36z8sd http://tinyurl.com/55c4pv http://tinyurl.com/6q5vsm |
| Posted by: Duh! 2008-08-16 18:21 |
| #3 Is a sodomy conviction not bad for politicians in that part of the world? In Malaysia, newpaper companies are privately held, but must toe the line, or have their publishing licenses yanked. My guess is that nobody believes what the government is forcing newspapers to print. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-08-16 14:42 |
| #2 This isn't the first time the PM of Malaysia has used sodomy allegations to punish a political opponent. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2008-08-16 13:04 |
| #1 Is a sodomy conviction not bad for politicians in that part of the world? |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-16 12:17 |