Anwar will seize power very soon

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim pledged Monday to oust Malaysia’s entrenched government and brazenly urged the prime minister to hand over power “smoothly and peacefully.”

As he addressed a rally of some 10,000 supporters, however, Anwar said he would not meet a self-imposed Tuesday deadline to topple the government through parliamentary defections and instead hoped to negotiate a transition.

“We do not want to force it. We do not want to go to (the capital) Putrajaya and drag them down. Therefore, we want to negotiate with the prime minister and ask him, ‘Do you want one week, do you want two weeks?’” Anwar said.

The comments were certain to add to the pressure on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad and his ruling National Front coalition, which is already in a disarray because of dissent and a festering rebellion against Abdullah’s weak leadership after disastrous election results in March.

Earlier in the day, Anwar sent a letter to Abdullah saying he had enough support to form a government and asking the prime minister for a meeting to discuss the “transition of power.”

“We want the transition of power to be done smoothly and peacefully. We have the numbers and we are ready … to form the government,” he said.

The letter could, however, be seen as a show of bravado meant to scare the National Front.

Thousands at the evening rally chanted “Reformasi,” or reform, and “9-1-6″ _ a reference to Sept. 16, Anwar’s original deadline for removing the government through ruling coalition defections.

“The people will rise to build a system of true democracy,” Anwar said to loud cheers from the audience.

Opposition leaders who spoke before Anwar gave a new interpretation of the deadline date, saying it was the beginning of a campaign to oust the National Front, which has been in power uninterrupted since 1957 when Malaysia gained independence from British colonial rule.

“It doesn’t matter whether it happens tomorrow, the next day or whenever. People want it to happen. The 9/16 movement will begin seriously tomorrow,” said Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party.

Kamaruddin Jafar, a leader of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, said “tomorrow we will begin a clear movement toward a change of government.”