Status Quo
Matters in Malaysia seem to be stable at the moment. Anwar, after missing his date with taking over the Gov’t by way of defectors, is said to be backing off, after not coming forth with any of the 31 names of those defectors; nor have any come out publically. It appears that no one, besides Anwar, even knows who might be on the ‘916′ list. Anwar has also refused to set a new date.
This has resulted in a bit of mocking toward Anwar inside Malaysia. The Malaysia Insider has two articles out today, Anwar backtracks on power bid and the missed deadline. While Anwar is appealing to the public for patience, the ruling party UMNO is holding a special meeting on Friday. All in all things appear like they are not going to change, and parliment is due to reconvene on October 13th.
In other news, the foreign minister of Malaysia has proposed an international conference to confront anti-Islam sentiment, and that the conference be held in the US:
…the United States was chosen as the venue for the convention because of the polemic on Islam in that country besides the wide media coverage that it would generate.
Sean-Paul Kelly has been traveling in Malaysia, and has a light-hearted post on the Agonist.
