By VIJAY JOSHI – 3 hours ago


Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim gestures as he speaks in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, July 1, 2008. Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday he had an alibi to prove he did not sodomize a young man whose accusation has temporarily derailed his bid to re-enter Parliament and bring down the government. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)





Malaysia's Anwar vows to seize power

By VIJAY JOSHI – 3 hours ago
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has vowed to seize power soon, stepping up his campaign against the government as he fights an accusation of sodomizing a young worker in his office.

Addressing some 7,000 people on Tuesday night, Anwar accused the ruling National Front coalition government of being corrupt, inefficient and uncaring. He promised to set right the problems plaguing the country, including bringing down fuel prices, which were raised by a whopping 41 percent to 63 percent last month.

The opposition will "rule in a short while" and "the next day we will lower the price of oil," he said to loud cheers in his first public meeting since he was hit by the sodomy accusation last week.

Police are investigating the allegation by a 23-year-old male aide. Anwar, 60, who is married with six children, says he is a victim of a conspiracy by a desperate government clinging to power.

Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

The government has denied any hand in the claim.

Anwar was fired as deputy prime minister in 1998 when he was faced with a similar sodomy accusation, and spent six years in prison until Malaysia's highest court overturned the charge in 2004. While in custody, he was beaten by police and suffered from arsenic poisoning.

"I went to prison once and was beaten half to death. Do you think I will remain silent now? We will fight!" he said, adding that his accuser was being manipulated by a top politician in the government.

Anwar led a three-party opposition coalition to spectacular gains in March 8 general elections, which reduced the National Front's strength to 140 seats for a thin 30-seat majority in the 222-member Parliament. Anwar has said he will be able to pull 30 lawmakers to his side by mid-September.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is also under pressure from some of his own party members to step down.

"The National Front is in turmoil, with enemies from within and attacks from outside," Anwar said. "If the elections had been free and fair, the opposition would be in power, not the National Front."

The National Front has run the government since independence in 1957, and an opposition leadership was unthinkable until this year. Its massive gains are a reflection not only of Anwar's charisma and strategic skills but also of the growing disenchantment with the National Front among the majority ethnic Malays.

The political uncertainty because of Anwar's campaign and the government's weakness has hit the stock market hard.

The Composite Index slipped 1.8 percent to 1,153.7 points Wednesday — falling below the 1,157 points that it fell to on March 10 after the general elections.

Ibrahim Suffian, director of the independent Merdeka Center opinion research firm, said many people think the sodomy allegation was aimed at derailing Anwar's political plans.

"It's still early days ... but Anwar may gain more out of this because of the credibility issues that the government needs to face," Ibrahim told The Associated Press.

Associated Press reporter Sean Yoong contributed to this report.