Umno leaders meet as Anwar looks to take over

malaysianinsider - Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has begun chairing his party's supreme council meeting tonight to discuss former leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's resignation as another former party leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim staked a claim to be Malaysia's next prime minister.

The emergency Umno supreme council meeting began at 9pm at the party's Menara Dato Onn's headquarters, officials said.

Earlier in Singapore, Anwar told reporters he was ready to take over the government from Abdullah's Barisan Nasional which lost its traditional two-third majority in the March 8 general elections.

"I do intend to topple the government, we have the numbers," Anwar told reporters in Singapore, claiming his coalition now called Pakatan Rakyat is ready for the job.

"I'm looking forward to early elections," Anwar added, hoping it would take place before September.

Anwar, who outlined his coalition's agenda in a speech in Singapore yesterday, said Pakatan Rakyat would make its move once it was sure of the contest.

"If you have a one to two majority, the government will be too fragile ... You don't need a two-third majority," he said, adding that he wanted a majority of five or six and saw a vote of no-confidence in parliament as the best option.

Anwar, who was deputy prime minister and deputy Umno president, was dubbed the prime-minister-in-waiting until Mahathir sacked him in 1998 on corruption and sodomy charges.... selanjutnya.