Mahathir refuses to bow to pressure, call election

Mahathir refuses to bow to pressure, call election

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
said on Wednesday he won't be pressured into calling early
elections despite weekly street protests demanding his
resignation.

"I do not see why I should be pushed into an earlier election
because that will have the effect of undermining our economic
programs," the national news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.

Since former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was arrested
on Sept. 20, once-dormant opposition groups have become more
strident in urging that Parliament be dissolved and general
elections held.

Demonstrations against Mahathir's 17-year leadership have
become commonplace, even in rural areas, despite stern police
warnings and hundreds of arrests.

General elections do not have to be held before April 2000.

Meanwhile, Mahathir said, he was ready to weather the barrage
of demonstrations aimed at toppling his administration.

He stressed that Malaysia would continue its recent plans to
revive its flagging economy by aggressively lowering interest
rates, imposing broad capital controls and pegging the currency
against the dollar.

Anwar had disagreed with the prime minister on economic policy
before Mahathir fired him on Sept. 2, saying he was morally unfit
to lead.

Anwar is to go on trial Nov. 2 on 10 charges of sodomy and
corruption. He says the charges against him have been trumped up
to block any challenge to Mahathir.

Anwar's wife, Azizah, said Wednesday she hoped she would not
be arrested on charges of encouraging protests against Mahathir.
Her comments came after rumors of her arrest swept across Kuala
Lumpur.

Fears of her arrest were fueled by comments by Mahathir
Tuesday just before he concluded a five-day visit to Tokyo. "I
hope the police won't arrest (her), but I don't know. That is the
police business," Mahathir reportedly said.

Soon after Anwar's Sept. 20 arrest following a mammoth public
rally demanding Mahathir's resignation, police warned Azizah she
would face the same fate if she led the campaign her husband
started.

She drove up to a street protest for the first time on
Saturday, waving at the slogan-shouting demonstrators and shaking
hands with many of them.

Azizah said on Wednesday the prime minister seemed to be
directing his wrath toward her.

"I implore Dr. Mahathir to be more responsible and not be so
arrogant," she said, denying that she had joined the protest. She
had driven to the demonstration out of curiosity, she said.

A senior United Nations official visited her Wednesday and
described her as "a courageous lady."

Abib Hussain, the special rapporteur on freedom of expression
and opinion of the UN Commission on Human Rights, did not say,
however, whether he had come to Malaysia specifically to meet
Azizah Ismail.

"I'm very encouraged that he came to visit me," Azizah said of
Hussain, who was India's ambassador to the United Nations in the
early 1990s.

Deputy Home Minister Tajol Rosli declined to give an assurance
in Parliament on Wednesday that Azizah would not be arrested
under the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite
detention without trial. The ISA was used against Anwar and many
of his allies.

The law would be used only against those who threaten public
security and national stability, the minister said. Of the nearly
two dozen people arrested under the ISA in recent weeks, four are
still in jail.