PM extends olive branch to opposition

PM extends olive branch to opposition

MALAYSIA: Warning that "enemies from abroad" threatened Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad urged his political opponents to forsake their rivalry and join his ruling coalition.

Opposition leaders on Sunday rebuffed the invitation, calling it a "deception" designed to bolster support for Mahathir as he embarks on the final year of a leadership term that has spanned more than two decades.

Mahathir said the National Front coalition, which has been in power since Malaysia's independence from Britain in 1957, was not "power-hungry" and would welcome opposition groups that were sincere about making peace.

The opposition National Justice Party, which is led by the wife of Mahathir's jailed former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, urged the group's 300,000 members - many of whom once belonged to Mahathir's party - to reject the Malaysian leader's offer. --AP