Sunday, August 13 12:09 PM SGT
Singapore's Lee says Anwar will remain Malaysian
opposition icon
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13 (AFP) -
Jailed Malaysian former deputy prime minister
Anwar Ibrahim will remain an opposition icon, Singapore Senior Minister
Lee
Kuan Yew said in remarks published Sunday.
But Lee, who is arriving in Kuala Lumpur Monday
for his first visit in a decade, said Malaysia's opposition alliance had
been
carried away by Anwar's reform movement which "did not catch
fire."
While it was a "watershed development" for the
key Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) to join forces with the
majority
Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP), he said they were naive
in thinking they could oust Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad's coalition in
last November's polls.
The two parties are part of the Alternative
Front alliance, along with the National Justice Party (Keadilan) headed by
Anwar's
wife and the Malaysian People's Party.
"Will the Alternative Front survive five years?
After 19 years of Mahathir's drive to push Malaysians into science
and
technology and the Internet, you have a differently educated generation.
Can they be brought back and put into a cage?" Lee
said.
"Look at Iran... the students are in rebellion.
To move away from the modern world is unthinkable after the last 19
years."
PAS, which aims to form an Islamic state, was
the biggest gainer in the general elections with 27 parliamentary seats.
DAP
won only 10 seats and Keadilan five. Malaysia holds an election once in
five years.
Lee said Anwar, who was sacked by Mahathir in
September 1998, picked up the "Reformasi" (reform) rallying cry which
toppled
former Indonesian president Suharto but it "did not catch fire."
"Anwar the icon will be used by PAS and other
opposition parties to hit at Mahathir," he said.
Lee said PAS was gaining influence among young
Malay professionals but did not foresee PAS forming the government "for
a
long time."
"If they grow in strength and displace the
present PAS image of the goatee beard and the white skull-cap of the devout
Muslim
with that of the modern Malay professional, that's a different
challenge," he added.
Lee did not comment on Anwar's sodomy conviction
on Tuesday, and the lengthy nine-year jail sentence.
The sentence will run consecutively to a
six-year jail term he received in April 1999 for abuse of official powers, and
could keep
Anwar behind bars until 2014.
The United States, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand and the European Union have condemned the verdict. But
Malaysia
accused them of meddling in its affairs.
Anwar's lawyers are appealing against the court
verdict. Anwar says Mahathir led a conspiracy to frame him because
he
intended to expose corruption and was a political threat. The premier
denies any plot.
