ANWAR IBRAHIM’S PARTY
That look like 4,000 to you?
Anwar Ibrahim before he was stopped by police.
Anwar Ibrahim’s comeback at a private club was marred when 12 police officers stopped his speech April 14, 2008 before a crowd of supporters estimated between 4,000 by the police and 40,000 by the opposition. About 300 officers including riot police, backed up with water cannon trucks, formed a heavy security presence.
He was making his first public speech since last month’s general elections to jubilant opposition supporters who had gathered at the field in front of the club for a countdown until midnight, when a legal ban that prevents Anwar from holding political office expires, reported AP.
Anwar’s speech was stopped after he had addressed the crowd for about half an hour. Police said the rally was held without a permit. The event was held at a private club, Kelab Sultan Sulaiman.
Anwar’s Keadilan party had rejected the objections to the rally and questioned why police changed tack after earlier being involved with security and traffic arrangements for the event. The Kelab Sultan Sulaiman was where the Malays held their first gathering which resulted in the ’struggle’ for Merdeka and which finally saw the birth of Malaysia on August 31, 1957.
This was the point Anwar wanted to make.
“Now I can say for the first time that we are ready to govern the country,” Anwar said after the incident. “We have the numbers… but we are not in a hurry.”
“We will only enter when the majority is comfortable,” he said without indicating when that would happen. Anwar’s party can form the government if 30 MPs from the ruling coalition defects to the opposition.
Some observers have suggested the opposition may have succeeded in turning Malaysians away from race-based politics.
The background of Anwar Ibrahim, who was once prime minister in waiting until the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad sacked him in 1998 on sex and corruption charges, is one of perseverance. Anwar maintains the charges were politically motivated. He was released from prison in 2004 after the sodomy conviction was overturned, but the corruption conviction barred him from holding political office until Apr 15, 2008.
The night before, Celine Dion was at the Stadium Merdeka in the capital of Malaysia. Her 100-min performance drew a crowd of 10,000 according to this Star report.
