Malaysia

Anwar predicts government will fall

Article published on the 2008-07-02 Latest update 2008-07-06 11:59 TU

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim spoke to thousands of supporters Tuesday night, predicting that the government, which he described as "corrupt", will soon fall. He promised to drop oil prices once in power and said he would fight recent allegations of sodomy and corruption. Anwar said he is poised to form a government with the help of defecting lawmakers from the ruling coalition.

Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, herself a member of parliament, told RFI the protests would also be against what she described as "the highest ever hike on petrol prices".

A rally is planned for 6 July to protest against the price rises.

Wan Azizah said that supporters of Anwar were also hoping that there would be crossovers from the ruling party to support him.

The opposition leader told his supporters at the rally that the governing coalition could not be trusted and accused it of corruption.

"I promise that the day we take power, the very next day oil prices will drop in Malaysia," he said. An "anti-inflation" rally is planned for 6 July to which organisers hope to attract one million people.

Anwar led a three-party coalition in last March's general election and took significant gains, leaving the ruling coalition with a small parliamentary majority.