INTERVIEW - Malaysia Anwar confident ahead of sodomy trial

Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim gestures to journalists as he leaves the Islamic court in Kuala Lumpur January 7, 2010. Anwar Ibrahim goes on trial next week on sodomy charges for the second time, confident he will win.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim goes on trial next week on sodomy charges for the second time, confident he will win and believing the government's mishandling of a religious row has bolstered the opposition's political standing.

Anwar, 62, was this Southeast Asian country's deputy premier and prime minister-in-waiting until 1998, when he was ousted from government, accused of corruption and sodomy and eventually jailed at the height of the Asian economic crisis.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Anwar said the ongoing row over whether Christians can use the word "Allah", in which 11 churches and other religious buildings have been attacked, had hurt "the credibility of the government".

Anwar was released from prison in 2004 after the top court overturned his sodomy conviction, and went on to build up his three-party People's Alliance coalition.

In 2008, the Alliance won its best ever haul in national and state elections, winning more than a third of parliamentary seats and ending up in charge of five of Malaysia's 13 states as ethnic Chinese and Indian voters deserted the government in droves.

"We are more confident now as compared to 2008, primarily because the government, through their own dubious manner, have managed to alienate Chinese and Indians further," Anwar told Reuters.

A conviction in his upcoming trial could end Anwar's political career, with the offence carrying a maximum 20-year jail sentence. Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is a criminal offense in Malaysia.

Anwar's trial, which he claims is a political conspiracy against him, could raise political tensions at a time when Prime Minister Najib Razak has pledged to boost sagging foreign investment in the country.

Foreign investors withdrew $35 billion between the second quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009 .

Foreign ownership of Malaysia's stock market stood at 20.8 percent at the end of 2009, according to data from stock exchange operator Bursa Malaysia, less than the 21 percent in March before Najib took over the leadership of the National Front coalition.

COMBUSTIBLE FAULT LINES

Najib took power in April last year vowing economic and political reforms to win back voter support, including by minorities complaining of increased marginalisation.

But the row over the use of "Allah", which stems from a Catholic newspaper's successful legal bid to use the word to describe the Christian God, has exposed combustible political and ethnic fault lines.

Christians, including Malay-speaking ones in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak who have traditionally used the word Allah for God, account for 9.1 percent of the 28 million population.

Anwar's opposition coalition, which includes the Islamist Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), have supported the use of the word by Christians. The government has appealed the court verdict.

"Why is it so difficult for them (the government) to call up the Christians and speak to them and get the Muslim elements to engage with the Christians? This did not happen," Anwar said.

The row has split opinions among Malays in both the opposition and the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the lynchpin of the ruling coalition that Najib heads.

Both sides are eager not to alienate the majority Malays who form a critical vote bank, but Anwar said that UMNO had "misread the ground" in its bid to consolidate Malay support.

"Ordinary people may not be sophisticated enough to talk about the lack of foreign investment or growth but they know in terms of unemployment and inflation, these are still the big issues."

"But UMNO wants to deflect this by using the race card, (by portraying) that the Malays are under threat, the Muslims are under threat," said Anwar.

Having spent the past several months building public support on the stump in nightly speaking engagements that have drawn large crowds, Anwar said he has seen "an upsurge in interest" in his case.

Last Sunday, police stopped him from speaking in his daughter Nurul Izzah's parliamentary constituency in the capital, because he did not have the required permit for the event.

"Their (the government's) plan is to get me out of the political scene, so that is why we have made enough preparations for the Pakatan Rakyat to continue with or without me," he said.

(Reporting by Razak Ahmad; Editing by Bill Tarrant)