Badawi must go - Anwar

Source IOL

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has stepped up pressure on the government on Thursday, demanding an emergency parliamentary session next week to hold a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"We must realise this is now a minority government. The majority of MPs are with us now,"

Anwar said at a news conference, adding that the session should be convened by September 23.

That would be one day before Anwar is due to appear again in court over sodomy charges he denies and which he and his supporters say are politically motivated.Anwar needs 30 government MPs to join his opposition alliance which has 82 legislators in the 222-strong parliament.

He said on Tuesday he had the numbers and demanded handover talks with Badawi, although he declined to name MPs and say how many had said they would join him.

The demand for an emergency session came a day after a small party in Malaysia's ruling coalition walked out.

Also on Tuesday, Badawi handed the key finance ministry post to his Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and hinted he might leave the top job earlier than 2010 as planned.