Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says he has no moral qualms about toppling the government with lawmaker defections, claiming the country cannot afford to wait four years for the next elections to bring about change.
“Four years will be disastrous for the economy, the political system, the judiciary,” Anwar said late on Saturday while on the campaign trail.
Anwar will contest a by-election tomorrow in the northern district of Permatang Pauh for a seat in parliament. He is expected to win easily despite facing an imminent trial on charges of sodomy, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Anwar’s aides say a large group of ruling coalition lawmakers is waiting for him to enter parliament so they can defect. A former deputy prime minister with ambitions for the top job, Anwar has said he will bringing down the government of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by Sept. 16.
In general elections on March 8, Anwar’s three-party opposition alliance won an unprecedented 82 of parliament’s 222 seats — 30 short of a majority — as well as control of five states.
Anwar rejected criticism that a government formed by defections would have no moral authority to rule. He said the opposition would have come to power anyway had the elections been totally fair.
Also, the country is reeling from economic mismanagement and corruption and should not have to wait for four years to change the government, he said.
“No. 1, you have a situation where the election was stolen from you. No. 2, there is no direction, no leadership. Can you imagine — with this leadership, this policy, this crime rate, this economy — can the country manage and survive for four years?” he said.
“My point is, we will lose a lot if we wait for four years,” he said in the interview in his car while traveling from a public meeting to a mosque for evening prayers.
Anwar could not contest the March elections because of a ban on holding political office stemming from a previous corruption conviction. It was slapped on him in 1998 when he was also charged and later convicted of sodomy. The sodomy conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2004, but the political ban remained in force until April.
Anwar’s campaign machinery in his district has overshadowed that of the ruling National Front despite the presence of top government leaders, including Abdullah and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.
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