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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Malaysia's Anwar Says Opposition May Topple the Prime Minister

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he has convinced about 30 lawmakers from the ruling coalition to join an alliance that would topple Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.

Anwar, a former Malaysian deputy premier, is attempting to win over lawmakers from the multi-ethnic ruling coalition to his opposition group.

Anwar plans to wait for more lawmakers to switch before attempting to form a government, he told reporters late yesterday after addressing 20,000 people at a rally in Kuala Lumpur that was broken up by police.

``We are ready,'' Anwar said. ``We want the numbers to be that meaningful so that it is comfortable for us to lead.''

Anwar and Abdullah are fighting for control of Southeast Asia's third largest economy. Malaysian police said they stopped Anwar's rally late yesterday because the crowd grew too large. The same day, Abdullah faced renewed calls within his own party for him to step down.

Anwar led a three-way opposition alliance to its best ever election result on March 8. Abdullah's national front coalition lost its two thirds majority in the 222-seat parliament and ceded five of 13 states to the opposition.

Anwar, who becomes eligible today to run for a parliamentary seat following previous corruption charges that he denies, said he'll say when he'll contest a seat when lawmakers are sworn in on April 28.

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