Anwar says overconfidence will be Najib’s downfall

MARANG, May 7 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not be overconfident of winning back Selangor, saying last night the prime minister could just be the opposition leader once Pakatan Rakyat (PR) takes Putrajaya.

Anwar further warned the Umno president not to practise the “politics of seizure” (politik rampas) for the sake of ruling the country.

“The politics of seizure cannot (be practised). Seize other people’s wife... seize Perak... seize Selangor... How can this be?” Anwar told a 3,000-strong crowd at Madrasah Darul Iman, Kedai Buluh here last night.

“Don’t be arrogant Najib... God willing, we will take Putrajaya and you will be the new opposition leader.”

The opposition leader’s remarks came a day after Najib told Selangor Umno to use whatever “weapons at their disposal” to seize control of Malaysia’s wealthiest state.

Anwar also urged the people to vote for change by replacing Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) with PR in the next general election.

“We will increase the number of (opposition) seats in Parliament. In Terengganu we will add three or four... one more in Penang... Perak, we can add three seats and in Selangor we can add two more seats,” he said.

“In the Federal Territory, we won 11 seats. The one (parliamentary) seat we lost in Setiawangsa was due to postal votes... 14,000 postal votes, the highest in history.”

“In Sarawak, judging from the results of the recent Sarawak election, we can add 10 to 11 seats more,” he added to applause.

Najib called on Selangor Umno to forget its historic losses in Election 2008 and bounce back for BN retake the state from the opposition in the next general election, which he said was “just around the corner”.

“We must not allow our image to continue to be besmirched and wallow because of the defeat,” he had said in a speech in Shah Alam on Thursday.

In Election 2008, PR won Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah while keeping hold of Kelantan under PAS. BN, however, managed to wrest back Perak from PR a year later after three lawmakers switched camps.

Anwar added last night that PR will defend every seat it has won even if that meant facing Umno and BN’s dirty tactics.

“We need to defend these seats. I believe Umno will use whatever it can to weaken us,” he said.

“They say we only dream (of taking Putrajaya) but don’t forget that we won in Terengganu, Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Penang and Kelantan, and even won in the Federal Territory... Enough with the status quo, we need to change.”

Anwar added that PR will implement the policies detailed in its Orange Book if the opposition pact wins federal power.

“If we take Putrajaya today, in 24 hours I will make an announcement that (the price of) oil will go down... from Perlis to Sabah. In fact, we will give oil royalties of up to 20 per cent to oil-producing states,” he said.

The Permatang Pauh MP also stressed that the promises contained in the manifesto were not mere empty promises.

“These are not political promises... What we want to do, we will do. Oil (prices) will go down, we will return royalties and we will do much more,” he said.

The Orange Book, which comprises PR’s policies and 10 initiatives to be taken by the opposition within 100 days of taking Putrajaya, was first introduced at the pact’s second national convention in Penang last December.