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Anwar, Malaysian Opposition, Aim to Erode Majority (Update1)
By Angus Whitley February 13, 2008
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Three Malaysian opposition parties plan to deny the
ruling coalition a two-thirds majority in a bid to loosen the government's
five-decade grip on power when the country holds elections scheduled for
March 8.
``It will be a major, major battle ahead,'' Anwar Ibrahim, 60, a former
deputy prime minister now aligned with the opposition, said at a press
conference in Hong Kong yesterday.
The parties plan to take on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's Barisan
Nasional coalition by fielding a single candidate in most constituencies
and
to highlight Malaysia's crime rate, rising consumer prices, and government
corruption.
``We'll be harping on these issues every single day,'' said Tony Pua,
economic adviser to the Democratic Action Party, the largest opposition
group in parliament. ``It shows a clear failure of the government.' '
Denying Abdullah's coalition a two-thirds majority would be a historic
shift
in Malaysia politics, said Ooi Kee Beng, an analyst at Singapore's
Institute
of Southeast Asian Studies.
``If you want to amend anything in the constitution, you need two-thirds
support from parliament, so that has become sort of a benchmark,'' said
Ooi.
``More voices in parliament will be healthy for democracy. But the
opposition will never come close to having power.''
Election Date
Malaysia's election commission today set March 8 for the elections.
Abdullah, 68, who dissolved parliament yesterday, led his coalition to its
biggest parliamentary victory in 2004. The opposition won less than 10
percent of the parliamentary seats.
Candidates will be nominated on Feb. 24, Election Commission Chairman
Abdul
Rashid Abdul Rahman said at a press conference in Putrajaya, outside Kuala
Lumpur, today.
The DAP, the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party and the People's Justice Party,
which together won 19 of 219 parliamentary seats in 2004, plan to
coordinate
campaigns to ensure they don't take votes from each other. Anwar said
yesterday the parties have agreed on a single candidate for 90 percent of
the country's constituencies. The People's Justice Party is advised by
Anwar
and led by his wife.
Coordination among the parties is not yet complete, Anwar said. His party
will field around 70 candidates, and the other two parties will run around
60 candidates each.
Winning a third of the parliament is just the start, said Din Merican,
program director of the People's Justice Party.
``We have to project our image as an alternative government of the
future,''
he said. ``We cannot continue to be a party of dissidents.' '
Slowing Growth
Abdullah had to call an election before his government cuts gasoline
subsidies, pump prices rise and economic growth slows, according to the
Pan
Malaysian Islamic Party, the only opposition group to hold power in one of
Malaysia's 13 states, northeast Kelantan.
``They cannot face an election later in the year with the economic crisis
happening in Malaysia,'' said Hatta Ramli, treasurer of the party. ``That
is
why they need a quick, fresh mandate before they raise the price of oil
and
other goods.''
Inflation in Malaysia accelerated to a 10-month high of 2.4 percent in
December on higher food, alcohol and tobacco prices. Last month, Abdullah
said the number of criminal cases rose 13 percent in 2007 as rioting,
intimidation and extortion grew.
The government says Malaysia isn't alone in struggling with inflation.
Prices of commodities including crude oil and wheat have soared worldwide,
driving up the cost of everyday goods.
`Global Issue'
``The cost of living and increases in prices of goods is a global issue,''
Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting, who leads the
coalition's
Malaysian Chinese Association, told reporters yesterday.
Malaysia's economic growth may weaken in 2008 to 5.4 percent from an
estimated 6.1 percent last year amid a global slowdown caused by the U.S.
housing recession, according to the Malaysian Institute of Economic
Research.
Anwar, who is coordinating talks between the opposition parties, said
there's another reason for Abdullah's early election call: excluding him
from contesting. Anwar can't run for public office until five years after
he
finished a sentence for a 1999 conviction for corruption, a restriction
that
expires in mid-April.
``Prime Minister Abdullah is getting personal,'' Anwar said in an
interview
with Bloomberg Television yesterday.
Anwar spent six years in jail for charges he denies, after he was fired by
then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1998. A sodomy conviction was
overturned in 2004.
Abdullah is looking for a fresh mandate to implement the rest of his
five-year, 200 billion-ringgit ($62 billion) spending program that runs to
2010. He has rolled out development zone blueprints to attract billions of
dollars of investment to every corner of Malaysia.
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