Anwar has '40 MPs ready to cross over'

PERMATANG PAUH AND IPOH, Aug 20 - Once Anwar Ibrahim wins the Penang by-election next Tuesday, he is expected to reel more than 40 government MPs into the opposition coalition within weeks, sources close to the three-party alliance suggest.

The Straits Times learnt that the 40-plus ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs who are ready to jump ship include 'several federal ministers'.

They also include MPs from Umno, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Parti Gerakan, a source said.

"Some of the Umno MPs will jump once they see that their branches are about to snap," said another source.

BN leaders however pooh-poohed the plan, saying it is part of Anwar's mind games to destabilise the government.

"If he is about to do this, we certainly haven't detected anything," said a BN leader who recently visited Sabah and Sarawak to keep tabs on potential crossovers.

The only obvious potential defectors were two MPs from the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), which is well known for its criticisms of the Abdullah administration.

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition is mulling one of three legal means to oust the BN administration, including directly approaching the Malaysian King with signatures from the 82 opposition MPs and 40-plus defectors.

"The plan is definitely still on, and Anwar keeps stressing the country's stability in doing this," said one source.

Adding to the rumour mill, the Sabah-based vice-president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, said yesterday that 13 MPs from the state - two from SAPP and 11 from Umno Sabah - will jump to PR after Anwar wins the by-election.

"We speak the truth. I am talking about the 13 MPs who will join Pakatan Rakyat after Anwar wins this by-election," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Anwar has just 28 days left from today to pull in the defectors by Sept 16, which is midway through the Muslim fasting month.

The date was picked because that was the day Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak agreed to form Malaysia in 1963, as the two Borneo states form a big part of Anwar's plan.

Singapore left the Malaysian Federation in 1965.

The pressure is now on Anwar to deliver this audacious promise. But views are mixed on how much credibility he will lose if he fails to do so.

Said an Umno leader: "We will whack him on the head if he can't do it because he will lose all credibility."

Political scientist Agus Yusoff of National University of Malaysia said, however, that due to Anwar's charisma, people would still believe that the promised big changes have merely been delayed.

"Politics is about giving hope and if he fails to deliver on that date it should not have much impact as people would still believe that changes are coming soon."

But Anwar has to watch out for investor concerns, because since independence Malaysia has always been ruled by BN and its predecessor Parti Perikatan (Alliance Party).

The former deputy premier is expected to win the Permatang Pauh election in Penang easily, and return to Parliament for the first time in 10 years.

On Monday evening, he repeated his promise and even described how this could be done.

"Once Anwar is in Parliament, we will see the Agong (Malaysian King) and get him to appoint Anwar as prime minister," he told a crowd of about 500 people at a village in Permatang Pauh.

The PR consists of Anwar's multiracial Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Chinese-led Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

Together, they won 82 seats in the federal Parliament in the March polls. The opposition coalition needs defections from at least 30 MPs to replace BN as the government in the 222-seat Parliament.

But big challenges remain even if Anwar manages to grab federal power.

He would have to pacify Malays in the peninsula and those in PAS who worry about the dilution of Malay-Muslim political dominance in Malaysia.

"I don't know if PAS would remain in Pakatan if there are only a few Malay- Muslim MPs who defect," said a top PAS leader.

In the meantime, BN and Umno are not expected to sit still in the face of this Anwar-led onslaught.

Rather than see itself losing power, BN is expected to approach the King to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh elections.

Only then would the people's real wish be seen.

-TMI