Malaysia coalition in turmoil amid Anwar standoff

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-09 16:35

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia's ruling coalition began a meeting on Tuesday to try to end a revolt over a worsening racial row that analysts say may favour opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's bid to unseat the government.

Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim walks past photographers after attending a seminar held by the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) in Jakarta September 6, 2008. Anwar rejoined Malaysia's parliament last week after a 10-year absence and vowed to oust the current administration. [Agencies]

The dispute, which came to a head on Monday, has exposed fresh cracks within the multi-ethnic Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose coalition suffered a setback in March elections, faced an acid test in handling the dispute that analysts said could ultimately make or break the bloc.

"This is his first test-case after the March 8 elections when voters wanted (non-Malay) Barisan parties to be more assertive," said a political aide to a government minister.

The issue surfaced after a division leader of Abdullah's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) referred to ethnic Chinese as "immigrants" in Malaysia.

That angered Chinese political parties within and outside Barisan. Chinese, along with ethnic Indians, regard themselves as citizens who should be given similar rights as the majority ethnic Malays.

The UMNO man, who hailed from Abdullah's home state of Penang, on Monday even asked Chinese-based Gerakan party to leave the coalition.

In a sharp rebuke, Gerakan and another Barisan party announced that they would cut off any ties with UMNO in Penang.

"Abdullah must slap down these extremist and irresponsible politicians and not allow them to rear their ugly heads," said Lim Kit Siang, leader of the Chinese-based opposition party, the Democratic Action Party.

The turmoil came as Anwar moved to entice Barisan lawmakers to defect in his campaign to unseat the government by his self-imposed September 16 deadline.

In an apparent bid to pre-empt Anwar, Barisan took about 50 of its MPs to Taiwan for a week-long study tour.

Anwar's attempt to overturn a political order that has persisted since independence from Britain in 1957 has sharply raised Malaysia's political risks and rattled foreign investors.

Anwar was quoted on Tuesday as saying the trip showed UMNO and Barisan were in a state of panic.

"UMNO is panicking, that's why they took the MPs out," he said.