KL opposition seeks to nominate Anwar<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia's opposition alliance will
\ntry to nominate jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim as a
\ncandidate in the Nov. 29 election, his wife says.<\/p>\n
\"He will stand as a candidate in KL (Kuala Lumpur),\" Azizah
\nIsmail said, adding the constituency had already been decided.
\nShe declined to identify it, saying \"they can do many things to
\nprevent him from standing for election.\"<\/p>\n
Azizah, head of the National Justice Party, said she herself
\nwould contest the Permatang Pauh constituency in Penang state --
\nwhich her husband held for the United Malays National
\nOrganization (UMNO), dominant partner in the National Front.<\/p>\n
Mahathir sacked Anwar as deputy premier and finance minister
\nin September 1998. He was later that month expelled from UMNO and
\ndetained.<\/p>\n
A candidate need not be present in person to file nomination
\npapers on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Anwar is the candidate for premier of the alliance, which
\nincludes the National Justice Party, the Democratic Action Party
\n(DAP) and the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).<\/p>\n
The country's Election Commission, however, remained undecided
\non Thursday on whether Anwar Ibrahim could contest a seat in
\nParliament, even as the jailed politician and his wife emerged as
\nleading opposition candidates in the Nov. 29 general election.<\/p>\n
The commission spokesman Muhamad Aszahari Abdul Rahman said
\nthe matter would be determined by polling officials on Saturday
\nwhen nominations are filed, he said. \"We cannot say yes or no
\nyet.\"<\/p>\n
Anwar, the ousted deputy prime minister and handpicked
\nsuccessor to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is serving a six-
\nyear jail term for abuse of power and is standing trial for
\nsodomy. He vehemently denies the charges against him and claims
\nthey are part of a conspiracy to ruin him.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's opposition leader on Thursday called on 680,000
\nregistered voters to protest against their exclusion from general
\nelections this month, saying they had been denied \"their most
\nprecious democratic right\".<\/p>\n
Parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the
\nDemocratic Action Party (DAP) said the bloc of voters would have
\nplayed a decisive role in up to 80 of 193 constituencies at issue
\nin the Nov. 29 snap polls.<\/p>\n
\"This is why the 680,000 new voters who have become the latest
\nvictims of undemocratic and unconstitutional abuses of power in
\nMalaysia should come forward to make their protests heard,\" he
\nsaid in a statement.<\/p>\n
The new batch of voters -- who represent some seven percent of
\nthe electorate -- registered earlier this year but will not
\nbecome eligible to cast ballots until early 2000.<\/p>\n
The four opposition parties, which have never held power in
\nMalaysia, say many of the new voters are young and oppose
\nMahathir, who has been in power since 1981.<\/p>\n
Mahathir called on an outspoken state university professor on
\nThursday to step down because of his lawsuit against Malaysia's
\nElection Commission.<\/p>\n
Mahathir described the lawsuit, filed by Jomo Sundaram, as \"an
\nirresponsible act,\" the national news agency Bernama reported.
\nJomo, a renown economist at the premier University of Malaya,
\nsued on Wednesday to halt the Nov. 29 vote because the Election
\nCommission barred nearly 700,000 new voters from participating.<\/p>\n
The opposition-allied professor said he was one of those
\npotential voters who cannot participate because the commission
\nclaims it can't complete the new registration roll until next
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Jomo said barring him from voting was a violation of his
\nconstitutional rights.<\/p>\n
Reports from Manila quoted Philippine Foreign Secretary
\nDomingo Siazon as saying on Thursday that Mahathir will not
\nattend this month's Southeast Asian summit in Manila because of
\nelections at home.<\/p>",
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