KUALA LUMPUR —
Malaysian opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday he is in talks with the party of ex-premier Najib
Razak, who is in jail for corruption, to form the next government after an
inconclusive election.
اضافة اعلان
Anwar’s multiethnic coalition, which campaigned on
an anti-corruption ticket, won 82 seats in Saturday’s election, the most of any
bloc but still short of the majority needed to form government.
Malaysia, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest economies,
has had three changes of government in as many years, underscoring recent
political instability.
Saturday’s election offered no immediate solution to
that impasse, only more of the political horse trading that have characterized
recent polls.
“I am still very optimistic that we will be able to
form a government, more transparent, more democratic and to safeguard the
interests of the people in Malaysia,” Anwar told a news conference.
Another bloc, headed by former premier Muhyiddin
Yassin, has also claimed it has enough backing to form government with the
support of the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
Malaysia’s king is poised to break the stalemate.
Parties have been told to submit their preferred prime minister and coalition
partners to the king’s palace, with a deadline extended to 2pm local time
Tuesday.
Anwar spoke after holding formal talks with the
incumbent ruling bloc Barisan Nasional, which is dominated by Najib’s
graft-tainted
United Malays National Organization (UMNO).
He said the talks with his old foes were predicated
on him becoming the prime minister, a dream he has held for more than two
decades.
An agreement with UMNO would give Anwar an extra 30
seats for a simple majority of 112.
UMNO dominated Malaysian politics for decades but
registered its worst election performance since independence in 1957.
‘Court is court’
It also suffered a
humiliating defeat in the 2018 election due to public anger over the 1MDB graft
scandal that involved billions of dollars of state funds.
Najib, who was at the center of the scandal, is
serving a 12-year jail term.
Anwar had campaigned on a promise to fight
corruption, an issue that has come into sharper focus as
Malaysians struggle
with soaring food prices.
Asked about pending corruption cases involving more
UMNO leaders, he said he would leave it to the justice system.
“Court is court. The judiciary must be free from the
executive,” Anwar said.
The apparent contradiction in Anwar seeking support
from a corruption-tainted party was not lost on political observers.
Big gains for Islamists
PAS become the largest party
in Muhyiddin’s bloc after Saturday’s vote, triggering worries about its
influence on national policy.
The party, for example, forced the cancellation of an
annual craft beer festival in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, in 2017.
Two women convicted of having lesbian sex were also
caned in front of more than 100 spectators in a PAS-ruled state the following
year.
Islamist conservatism has been creeping into Malaysian
society and politics for years, with ultra-conservatives eroding its
traditionally moderate brand of Islam.
The majority of
Malaysia’s 33 million people are Malay and Muslim, but it is also home to
substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
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