PENANG, Malaysia (AFP) - - Malaysia's opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday accused the government of using "dirty tricks" to disrupt his campaign to return to parliament in a by-election.
Anwar, a former deputy premier who was jailed on sodomy and corruption charges a decade ago, is expected to win the August 26 ballot in his home state of Penang, in the latest step of his campaign to seize power.
But he said the government was exploiting tensions between Malaysia's races, and highlighting new sodomy allegations against him, to try to avoid a landslide victory for the 61-year-old opposition leader.
"These are dirty tactics. It is a malicious campaign on their part and is completely immoral," he told a press conference.
Anwar said the ruling coalition was playing on rifts between Malaysia's majority Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, by sending SMS text messages to Malay villagers slamming Anwar as an "agent of the Chinese."
And he said the government had ordered its supporters to heckle their opposition opponents by yelling "sodomy, sodomy" at political events.
The by-election will be seen as a test of Anwar's popularity after Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old former aide, accused him of sodomising him at an upmarket Kuala Lumpur apartment.
Anwar again rejected the new allegations, and said that as well as having a firm alibi, he had seen two medical reports on his accuser which showed he had no case to answer.
"I am telling you there is no case, they cannot proceed... the medical report is so clear. In the event the judicial system is fair, whichever judge hears the case will throw it out," he said.
On Friday, the eve of nomination day, Mohamad Saiful visited a mosque to swear on the Korean, the Islamic holy book, that he was telling the truth and challenged Anwar to do the same.
He also said he was sodomised against his will, although when Anwar was formally accused in court earlier this month the charge indicated the alleged sex act was consensual.
Anwar's supporters said the timing of the mosque visit was clearly politically motivated and more proof that the allegations have been concocted by the government.
"You can see the dirty tricks beginning in their campaign. It is corrupt and immoral to use religion and the Koran," Anwar said Sunday. "Don't insult the religion of Islam by playing political games."
Anwar has said that after March elections that handed the opposition alliance a third of parliamentary seats and five states, he is poised to oust the coalition with the help of defecting government lawmakers.
Analysts said the government would use the by-election to try to undermine Anwar's ability to appeal to all of Malaysia's racial groups -- a first in the nation's political history.
"They will probably try to convince voters that Islam is under threat and that Malay rights are under threat," said Ibrahim Suffian from the Merdeka Centre research firm.
Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the Democratic Action Party, said the vote would be a referendum on the opposition's performance since March.
"It is not called the mother of by-elections for nothing. It is an indication of national politics and of our track record so far, it is a barometer of politics in Malaysia at large," he told AFP.
"If Anwar succeeds in pulling in a large number of Malay votes, it will boost the oppositions' standing and the road to forming the next government will be clearer."
Anwar, a former deputy premier who was jailed on sodomy and corruption charges a decade ago, is expected to win the August 26 ballot in his home state of Penang, in the latest step of his campaign to seize power.
But he said the government was exploiting tensions between Malaysia's races, and highlighting new sodomy allegations against him, to try to avoid a landslide victory for the 61-year-old opposition leader.
"These are dirty tactics. It is a malicious campaign on their part and is completely immoral," he told a press conference.
Anwar said the ruling coalition was playing on rifts between Malaysia's majority Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, by sending SMS text messages to Malay villagers slamming Anwar as an "agent of the Chinese."
And he said the government had ordered its supporters to heckle their opposition opponents by yelling "sodomy, sodomy" at political events.
The by-election will be seen as a test of Anwar's popularity after Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old former aide, accused him of sodomising him at an upmarket Kuala Lumpur apartment.
Anwar again rejected the new allegations, and said that as well as having a firm alibi, he had seen two medical reports on his accuser which showed he had no case to answer.
"I am telling you there is no case, they cannot proceed... the medical report is so clear. In the event the judicial system is fair, whichever judge hears the case will throw it out," he said.
On Friday, the eve of nomination day, Mohamad Saiful visited a mosque to swear on the Korean, the Islamic holy book, that he was telling the truth and challenged Anwar to do the same.
He also said he was sodomised against his will, although when Anwar was formally accused in court earlier this month the charge indicated the alleged sex act was consensual.
Anwar's supporters said the timing of the mosque visit was clearly politically motivated and more proof that the allegations have been concocted by the government.
"You can see the dirty tricks beginning in their campaign. It is corrupt and immoral to use religion and the Koran," Anwar said Sunday. "Don't insult the religion of Islam by playing political games."
Anwar has said that after March elections that handed the opposition alliance a third of parliamentary seats and five states, he is poised to oust the coalition with the help of defecting government lawmakers.
Analysts said the government would use the by-election to try to undermine Anwar's ability to appeal to all of Malaysia's racial groups -- a first in the nation's political history.
"They will probably try to convince voters that Islam is under threat and that Malay rights are under threat," said Ibrahim Suffian from the Merdeka Centre research firm.
Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the Democratic Action Party, said the vote would be a referendum on the opposition's performance since March.
"It is not called the mother of by-elections for nothing. It is an indication of national politics and of our track record so far, it is a barometer of politics in Malaysia at large," he told AFP.
"If Anwar succeeds in pulling in a large number of Malay votes, it will boost the oppositions' standing and the road to forming the next government will be clearer."
