Anwar says has enough support to form Malaysian govt

By Jalil Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's opposition parties have the support of enough lawmakers to topple the government but are waiting for the right moment, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday.

Anwar was speaking just before police broke up a jubilant rally of thousands of his supporters in the Malaysian capital to mark the end of a five-year ban on his seeking public office.

Police, who had earlier said the rally was illegal, halted Anwar an hour into his speech. The crowd dispersed peacefully.

Police said 4,000 people took part in the rally but organisers put the number at more than 10,000, most of them ethnic Malays seated on a grassy plot surrounded by red, white and blue political party flags.

Officially Malaysia's opposition coalition has 82 seats in the 222-member parliament but unofficially has enough MPs to form a government, Anwar said before police surrounded the rostrum where he was speaking.

"We are just waiting for the right time. We want to create a new era for Malaysia," Anwar said to applause.

"We will hand over the parliamentary opposition post to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi," he added.

Police said the rally was illegal because it did not have a permit required by Malaysian law for all public assemblies of more than five people, and had urged people to stay away.