Next election 'could be Anwar's last shot
for PM post'
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has
said he may quit politics if he fails to wrest power in the next
general election, expected within a year.
In an interview with Financial Times, the 64-year-old
politician admitted that the coming polls would "probably" be his
last shot at becoming prime minister, after being sacked 13 yeats
ago and jailed on twin charges of sodomy and corruption. "We
present our manifesto, our policies and, of course, if I get a
mandate, I continue. Otherwise I think I'll go back to teaching,"
he said in the interview published yesterday.
The influential business daily noted that Mr Anwar seemed
tired for a man facing his best shot yet of governing a 28 million
multi-racial population fed-up with over half a century of Barisan
Nasional rule that appears unable to reform politically, socially
and economically.
Mr Anwar's supporters say he is one of a few whose agenda
can pull together the country's complex ethnic patchwork, according
to the newspaper. Yet critics say his challenge in power would be
holding together his coalition, made up of his own Parti Keadilan
Rakyat (PKR), the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party, and the
Islamist Parti Islam Malaysia.
But Mr Anwar refuted the criticisms. "This is not a
coalition based on just flimsy deals ... There may be some minor
issues that we could argue on, even within one party, or one race.
But with the substantive issues, no.
"We are changing the entire political landscape of the
country. I think a growing number, particularly the younger
Malaysians, want Malaysia to evolve as a mature, vibrant
democracy," he said.
The Malaysian Insider reported that despite being
acquitted of sodomy charges for the second time earlier this year,
the prosecution is still looking to overturn the High Court's
ruling, which could end up with him back in jail.
Mr Anwar and two other PKR leaders have also been slapped
with several charges over the Bersih rally for clean elections,
that could see them jailed up to two years if convicted, stripping
Mr Anwar of his lawmaker status.
Asia, The Strait Times, Thurday, July 5 2012, Pg A13