Over 10K supporters at Mr. Anwar's speech without a police permit

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Malaysian mata blocked a rally of Mr. Anwar where over ten thousand supporters celebrated the ending of his deprivation to be an election candidate. Mr. Anwar's party did not apply for any permit for this rally.

I would like highlight that the political event took place peacefully and orderly, but not necessarily lawfully. It took place for the interest as well as need to server the Malaysian people, and banning as well as criminalization of this event is as obvious as those done by famiLEE LEEgime here, which are politically motivated as well as corrupted conducted against the public interest obviously through the abuse of administrative power entrusted to the government by the people.

This sort of ban only proved that power had been entrusted to the WRONG HANDS!

AP News quoted:

Malaysia police halt Anwar speech

By VIJAY JOSHI Associated Press Writer

Article Launched: 04/14/2008 08:49:42 AM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

Supporters of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim... ((AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin))

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Police cracked down on a rally Monday aimed at celebrating opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's formal return to politics, halting him midway through a speech to more than 10,000 supporters.

Anwar was making his first public speech since last month's general elections to jubilant opposition members who had gathered for a countdown until midnight when a legal ban that prevents Anwar from holding political office expires.

The celebration came to an abrupt halt when about a dozen policemen interrupted Anwar after he had addressed the rally for nearly half an hour and forced him to stop.

Supporters, who carried banners that read, "Anwar for prime minister," jeered the police.

"Let me tell you, we will rule the country someday," Anwar said after the incident. "So we will set a good example to obey the law."

Officials did not immediately explain why they blocked his speech, but authorities had earlier warned they might break up the rally because Anwar's opposition People's Justice Party did not apply for a police permit.

The celebration had been expected to further galvanize Malaysia's resurgent opposition, which made spectacular gains in March 8 elections, winning anunprecedented 82 of Parliament's 222 seats. It also won control of legislatures in five of Malaysia's 13 states.

Political pundits say Anwar's ambition is to become prime minister, a post that once seemed within his reach when he was deputy to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the 1990s.

However, Mahathir sacked him in 1998 in a power struggle. Anwar was expelled from the ruling party, and convicted of sodomy and corruption, charges that he says were politically motivated.

Anwar was released from prison in 2004 after the sodomy conviction was overturned, but the corruption conviction barred him from holding political office until Tuesday.

Anwar could not contest the general elections because of the ban, but he is expected to run in a by-election soon to enter Parliament to challenge Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah is facing calls to step down even by his own colleagues in the United Malays National Organization, the dominant party in the ruling National Front coalition. The latest elections were its worst showing in history, though it did retain control of Parliament.

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Associated Press Writer Julia Zappei contributed to this report.

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