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Anwar rejoins Malaysia parliament
By Jalil Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim rejoined parliament on Thursday and was appointed leader of the opposition, taking another step towards his goal of winning power and reforming the economy.
Anwar, once the protege of former leader Mahathir Mohamad, was forced from office in 1998 on corruption and sodomy charges he says were part of a conspiracy to ruin his political career.
"I feel vindicated. I feel great that I am back," Anwar told reporters after he was sworn in a day before the government unveils its 2009 budget, which is widely expected to contain populist spending measures.
Ten years since he was last in parliament, Anwar is being backed by the biggest number of opposition MPs in Malaysia's history in his quest to oust the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled the country for the past 50 years.
At the same time Anwar must fight new sodomy charges. He denies the charges but if proven they could land him in jail for 20 years, effectively ending the 61-year-old's political career.
Even though Anwar is a respected former finance minister, his move on power after the opposition's surprisingly strong showing in a March general election has rattled financial markets due to fears of a period of prolonged uncertainty.
The Malaysian stock index has fallen more than 25 percent this year and the ringgit currency is close to year lows.
NO CLEAR PATH TO THE TOP
In order to take power, Anwar must win the backing of 30 legislators from the ruling coalition to get a majority in the 222-member parliament.
He has said he will call a confidence vote on September 16 -- six days after he is due to appear in court on the new sodomy charges -- but parliament is in recess for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Asked if he was still on track, Anwar simply said: "Yes".
Under the Malaysian constitution there is no such thing as a confidence vote. If Anwar wins over enough MPs, he will send a letter to the king who will either appoint a new government or call new elections, said James Chin, Professor of Political Science at Monash University's Malaysia Campus.
"The way you do it in Malaysia is you lock all of the MPs in a hotel and get them to sign a letter saying that they have lost confidence in the government," he said.
Any defectors from the government would likely want top cabinet posts and that would add to existing tensions among Anwar's fractious coalition of 82 MPs comprising reformers, Islamists and an ethnic Chinese party.
"Anwar is in a very, very difficult position as (Islamist party) PAS has said it would leave the coalition if it does not get the justice and the religious affairs ministry," Chin said.
Anwar's new sodomy trial could last for months, overshadowing his push for power. All homosexual sex is illegal in Malaysia, a mainly Muslim nation of 27 million people.
CHEERS FROM THE CHAMBER
Anwar was straight into parliamentary business after a rapturous welcome from his MPs following the end of a ban on him holding office and a resounding victory in a by-election on Tuesday in a seat vacated by his wife.
The government is trying to push through a bill to force suspects in criminal cases to provide DNA samples, a measure Anwar fears will be used to fabricate evidence against him. He has refused to give a DNA sample in the latest sodomy case.
"The government's desire to push it quickly shows that they are power-crazy and disrespectful to the speaker and the house ... It proves that the government and the cabinet are afraid of people power," Anwar said in parliament.
Anwar was applauded from almost-full opposition benches as he entered the chamber wearing Malay dress and a songkok black hat.
The silent government benches were less than half full.
Anwar wants to put Malaysia back on a fast track to becoming a developed nation and says he will stamp out corruption and end an affirmative action programme for ethnic Malays he says has failed to help them and made the country uncompetitive.
(Reporting by Jalil Hamid; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Paul Tait)
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