Malaysia

June 2005 | Risk Summary

Malaysia's fundamentalist Islamic party has named new liberal leaders, shunning hard-line clerics and paving the way for the formation of an opposition alliance. The Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS), an opposition force until it was crushed in the 2004 polls, has softened its Islamic stance in a bid to win moderate-Muslim votes. The shift could allow disparate opposition parties to pose a strong challenge to the ruling coalition, in power since independence in 1957. Anwar Ibrahim, the country's most potent opposition figure, has welcomed an offer to lead the front, but unless pardoned by Malaysia's king, is banned from standing for

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