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Ibrahim Anwar returns to parliament, leads walkout

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in to parliament yesterday, only to stage a walkout hours later in a dispute over a controversial bill on forced DNA sampling.

Anwar won a seat in a landslide by-election this week in his home state of Penang, ending a long political exile after he was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 and jailed on charges of sodomy and corruption.

“I’m glad to be back after a decade,” Anwar said, insisting he was on track to topple the government within weeks with the help of defecting lawmakers.

First on the agenda was a bill that would force suspected criminals to give DNA samples. Anwar says the bill targets him, as he refused to provide a DNA sample after being arrested on sodomy charges.

Anwar walked out of the parliament with his 81 opposition lawmakers after the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition refused to establish a special committee to review the legislation.

“We have walked out because they have refused to respond. Many [members of parliament] requested a select committee to be formed,” Anwar told reporters.

“There is no point staying and participating in the debate,” he said.

Syed Hamid condemned the actions of the three-party opposition alliance.

“They walked out contrary to the rules,” he told reporters. “They walked out because they don’t want it to appear like a failure for its leader its leader, who has said that he will be able to win over Barisan Nasional” lawmakers.

Anwar earlier attacked Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who has faced repeated calls to resign from his post since March elections in which the opposition gained unprecedented ground.

“The prime minister has lost the mandate of the country,” Anwar said, calling on Abdullah to be removed from power.

Asked whether he was on track to seize power by securing the support of at least 30 lawmakers by Sept. 16, Anwar said “yes.”

Anwar faces a daunting hurdle as he fights to clear his name of new sodomy allegations leveled by a former aide, which he says have been concocted by the government to sideline him.
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