Sept 23 deadline for 'showdown'

KUALA LUMPUR: With his promise to form a new government on Sept 16 broken, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim now wants Parliament to meet within five days for a vote of no confidence. Anwar yesterday called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to convene an emergency session of Parliament by Sept 23.

Calling it the "final showdown", he said it would allow him to prove, once and for all, that the opposition had the support of more than 31 MPs from BN to make up the minimum 112 seats needed for a majority and to form the new government.

"We have told him (Abdullah) that we have the numbers. If he does not believe me, then convene an emergency sitting," Anwar said at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat headquarters.

Abdullah had challenged him to name the BN MPs who had purportedly agreed to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat by Malaysia Day.

When Sept 16 passed without incident, Anwar still insisted he had the required number of BN defectors to topple the government and said he was holding off because he wanted a "smooth transition".

He has, so far, not named a single one of them. Now he is playing for time by demanding a meeting of Parliament to table a motion of no confidence against Abdullah, which is certain to be turned down.

He said a letter signed by him, the DAP's Lim Kit Siang and Pas president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, had been sent to the prime minister to request him to convene Parliament by next Tuesday.

Asked why the PR alliance could not wait until Oct 13 when Parliament reconvenes, he said:

"State of flux, volatility, ISA arrests, economic collapse, switching cabinet portfolios midstream, uncertainty in Umno supreme council meetings. How long can you wait?"

He claimed he had met fund managers in the region, representing over US$1 trillion (RM3.4 trillion) in capital, who were ready to invest in the country when the Pakatan Rakyat took over the government.

-NST