> KT victory will reinvigorate takeover plans

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has renewed his vow to seize power from the ruling coalition, as the two sides lock horns for a key by-election.

Anwar has laid low since failing to meet a self-imposed September 2008 deadline to unseat the Barisan Nasional government, after general elections that saw the coalition handed its worst results in half a century.

The opposition alliance is now hoping to reinvigorate itself with a win in the Jan 17 by-election in Kuala Terengganu, which is seen as a referendum on the political mood since the March 2008 national polls.

"I want to say that we in the (Pakatan Rakyat) alliance are determined to topple the Barisan Nasional coalition," Anwar said at an opposition rally here late yesterday that drew some 10,000 supporters.

"For a start, I will help our alliance candidate from PAS obtain a big victory," he said on the seafront of the state capital Kuala Terengganu.

Top figures in the alliance - Anwar's PKR as well as the Islamic party PAS and the predominantly Chinese DAP - stood shoulder-to-shoulder to dispel signs the partnership is under strain.

They included PAS leaders Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang. 

The partnership of three ideologically divided parties is intent on putting its differences aside for the by-election, which will be contested by PAS candidate Mohamad Abdul Wahid, 52.

The ruling party Umno is fielding Deputy Home Minister Wan Ahmad Farid, 46, for the vote, which will indicate whether it has lured back support since the general elections.

Momentum stalled in October

Anwar had said he would topple the government by mid-September with the help of defecting lawmakers, after elections that saw the opposition gain five states and a third of parliamentary seats in unprecedented results.

But that deadline came and went and the promised mass defections from BN never materialised.

Anwar's momentum completely stalled in October when Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi agreed to stand down next March, defusing public anger at the government's handling of the economy and failure to introduce promised reforms.

The government is now exploiting bickering within the opposition, but Anwar said the alliance was united despite disagreements over issues such as a PAS call for the introduction of Islamic "hudud" law including the stoning of adulterers.

Snap polls possible end of this year

And he said that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is slated to take over from Abdullah in March and is spearheading the by-election campaign, would suffer if the government loses.

"Najib is heading the Barisan Nasional machinery and if Barisan loses, it will hurt his credibility. The loss to the government will be a big blow to Najib," he said.

"It is a barometer for the future direction of politics in Malaysia," he said. "As I see it, the winds of change from the March 8 electoral tsunami are still blowing strong."

DAP chairman Lim Kit Siang said Najib may be forced to call elections much earlier than the end of the government's five-year term which expires in 2013.

"We hope a victory here will be a yardstick for us to win the next general election and take over the country. It is possible that a snap election would be held at year end," he said - Malaysiakini.