Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Anwar Ibrahim has warned his former Barisan Nasional (BN) colleagues that launching personal attacks could backfire.

The former deputy premier said that he too could drop a few bombshells as well.

He was speaking at a fund-raising dinner in the Chinese-majority Padungan constituency in Sarawak where PKR is fielding Dominique Ng for the May 20 state elections.

"I don't want to fight these people. They were my friends when I was deputy prime minister. In fact one of them from PBB had once told me of his eagerness to see me replace (ex-premier) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad).

"They said 'Anwar I will support you when you take over. When you lead the government, we have to change (Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul) Taib Mahmud's men. Do you want me to name who this PBB leader is?" he asked his audience, who cheered him on.

"Yes, I can reveal him. Which is why I say don't try to fight me this way, because I will fight back!" he said.

(PBB or Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu is led by the chief minister and forms the backbone of the state BN coalition).

Nothing personal

On the same note, Anwar said he was not overly concerned about these attacks from those whom he described as 'small fry'.

"Recently I was invited to speak at a function in South Korea. I met President Kim Dae-jung who told me 'Anwar, we want a new voice to fight for justice and we want to support it'.

"A leader of a nation said those supporting words to me. So who cares what these small fry say. We have a bigger agenda which is to create change in Malaysia and I believe it can start here in Sarawak," he stressed to loud applause from the audience.

Anwar, who was sacked from government in 1998, said he had nothing personal against Taib or other BN leaders in the state.

"My fight against them is not personal. But I do take offence against leaders who steal timber, land and riches for themselves, their children and their cronies," he added.

The PKR leader also told voters not be duped by the ruling coalition's 'divide and rule' policy.

"We are not here to fight Supp (another BN party) or PBB. We are here to fight for change. We are not like them, we don't pit different races against each other and rule. We practice new politics that fight for all whether Iban, Chinese or bumiputera," he said.

Stop the rot

Anwar said voting for the opposition would mean more transparency in the state administration which in turn would benefit the state's economy.

"I was the minister of finance, I know it (Sarawak) has good revenues. Its timber is among the best in the world but how could the people benefit from it when half of the timber produced is taken by the chief minister? What does the rakyat get? Why is the wealth of the state robbed by a selected few?

"We have to stop this rot, this corruption and victimisation," he said.

During his 45-minute speech, Anwar held his audience spellbound with his fiery remarks and intermittent jokes. He also sang and quoted Confucius.

"Anwar is good. The others seem to think so too. He said all the right things tonight. We are tired of the present government and we want to see if we have an alternative," said a local businessman, who declined to be named, when met after the function.

Asked if Anwar's speech would influence his vote, the businessman smiled and replied: "It may".

The opposition has failed to make any significant inroads into Sarawak. The East Malaysian state has always been a BN fortress since Sarawak joined Malaysia in 1963.

Anwar also made a stop at Kampung Semerah Padi in Semariang yesterday to address voters in the Malay-majority constituency.

However, the response here was lukewarm with only some 200 people gathering at a field to hear him speak.