Tun Mahathir scoffs at Anwar's plan for Malaysian political comeback

Mahathir scoffs at Anwar's plan for Malaysian political comeback
(Kyodo) _ Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad scoffed Wednesday the idea of a political comeback by his renegade former deputy Anwar Ibrahim.
"He could win a few seats but making a comeback and taking over the government, that's a pipedream," Mahathir told reporters after delivering a lecture on media and national development in Putrajaya.
Anwar was Mahathir's deputy from 1993 until he was booted out in 1998 over allegations of immorality.
He was subsequently sentenced to jail for 15 years after being found guilty on charges of corruption and sodomy, charges he claimed were masterminded by Mahathir to prevent any challenge.
Anwar was freed in September 2004 after the court acquitted him of the sodomy charges.
By then, he had already served six years on the corruption sentence and that criminal record bars him from holding political office.
He also cannot run in the general elections until April 2008.
Since he was released from prison, Anwar had spent most of the past two years overseas, giving talks and teaching at universities in Britain and the United States.
He returned home late last year and has publicly announced he will run for office, starting with the position of president at the People's Justice Party, a position currently held by his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The party, known by its Malay acronym PKR, is to hold an election during its annual national congress on May 26. Anwar is the party's patron.
"Now that I've come back to contest in the party elections, not withstanding the decision by the courts, I don't want to be seen as having to submit to a decadent, corrupt judicial system," he said during a speech to the Foreign Correspondents' Association in Singapore last week.
But the Registrar of Society may put a damper on Anwar's dream.
The registrar may not allow him to run, and if he decides to challenge the registrar's decision in court and later loses, he risks being forced to step down and PKR could be deregistered.
Before the PKR election, however, a key test of his popularity would be the by-election in Ijok, a small town about an hour north of Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar is set to lead his party's campaign to win the seat that came open with the death of a state assemblyman from the ruling National Front.
PKR lost in the state election in 2004 by just 1,649 votes.
PKR is fielding its treasurer, Khalid Ibrahim, who will face K. Partiban from the National Front.
Voting is set for April 28.
The bigger test will be the general election due in early 2009 but which many speculated could be called early.
Anwar has already announced he wants to run in the general election.
But as analysts have pointed out, Malaysia does not have a presidential system where an individual can take the top job without overall parliamentary support from his party.
And so far, Anwar's party and its rag-tag opposition coalition are no match to the formidable machinery of the ruling 14-party National Front coalition.

tunku : anwar will never become a pm through the opposition, his only chance to be one is through umno by the help of passport delivery boy.Like what Tun said it is a pipedream for him to be a pm through pkr.anwar nowadays desperate of money suing everyone he could, latest is an MCA youth leader.