Anwar scoffs at Pak Lah's handover timeline

Anwar scoffs at Pak Lah's handover timeline

By Shannon Teoh

SEREMBAN, July 11 –

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim poured scorn on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's plan to hand over the reins to his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2010.

"Umno leaders have told me that if he even stays beyond this December, they will fight him," he told a crowd of thousands that overflowed an empty field that had gathered in Kampung Ismail here late last night.

Arriving at 10.10pm and permanently minded by some 20 security officers, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader also made a grand prediction that the Malaysian economy would collapse in two months due to stagnant growth and inflation.

"If changes are not made, especially to reduce fuel prices, our economy will collapse. Small and medium-sized enterprises will suffer and we will experience what economists call 'stagflation'," he told a crowd that had waited since 8pm for him to arrive.

He also explained that the federal opposition's application for a motion of no confidence against the prime minister filed yesterday was more important than Abdullah's handover date, as this would bring the opposition Pakatan Rakyat into power sooner than the Barisan Nasional's succession plan.

Anwar also talked up his impending July 15 televised debate on fuel prices as the next step in his attempt to fix what he sees as an ailing economy.

After pretending to forget his opponent Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek's name, he stated his continued hope that Abdullah and Najib would change their mind and participate in the debate instead of a junior minister.

The rest of his 47-minute speech was filled with new anecdotes that rehashed points already made in prior appearances since the election campaign in February but the crowd expectedly lapped it all up.

It seems that the point of his current nationwide road show is to remind the public that he will continue to push through his agenda of taking over the government before the next general election.