Pakatan Rakyat supremo Anwar Ibrahim today said that they were ready to defend Selangor when Barisan Nasional makes a move to topple the state.

He said that his recent appointment as the state economic advisor was also in line with this as the appointment would give him an avenue to be on a standby mode to ward off the BN attacks.

anwar at selangor pkr 15112009 He said he was fully aware of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's plan to take over the state from Pakatan.

Speaking to about 1,500 PKR delegates at Selangor convention in Shah Alam today, Anwar, who is also the PKR advisor, said he was confident Pakatan would be able to withstand any BN attack to topple the state government.

"(And) we will emerge victorious," he said.

"I interfered (in the state's administration) because there will be an attack from the federal government. The prime minister had said that he wanted Selangor back," he added, stressing that Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was not Najib's opponent.

"I know Khalid can be compared with (Deputy Prime Minister) Muhyiddin Yassin and not with Najib. That is why, when Najib said he wanted the Umno machinery to be strengthened in Selangor, I decided to be here.

"That is why I am not scared, I have opened the battle field and if he steps foot in Selangor, we will launch an attack until we emerge victorious," said Anwar to a thunderous applause.

Anwar said that the attacks by Umno on Pakatan-led Selangor were ‘never-ending' and the ‘cow-head' protest against Khalid in August was just the tip of the iceberg to topple the administration.

"Anyone who thinks that the ‘cow-head' episode has ended, think again. When the Umno president said he wanted to take back Selangor, he would use every means... that is why we need to watch our steps," he told the delegates.

In August, Najib had vowed to take back Selangor after the rich state fell to Pakatan in the March 2008 general election.

Describing the state as the heartbeat of the country, Najib had said that the BN has a bright chance of winning back the state provided that all component parties, led by Umno, were prepared to change.

Selangor is our fortress

Meanwhile, Anwar in his 45-minute high-spirited speech also said that he would be working with Khalid as the economic advisor using his experiences as the finance minister previously.

"I don't need the money, although Khalid said he would give me RM1 in allowance," said Anwar, drawing laughter of those present.

He said he would be stationed in the state secretariat building in Shah Alam and hoped to strengthen the state's economic position.

"I am not saying this just to please you. I am confident to strengthen this state and we will win (with even bigger majority) in Selangor (next elections).

"This is our fortress, this is our strength. If they come and touch it, ‘kita lesing dia'(we will thrash them)!," said Anwar to approval from the crowd.

Later at a press conference, Anwar clarified that the ‘war declaration' was only a response to the Umno president who promised to wrest back Selangor from Pakatan.

At the same time, he did not rule out the possibility of working with the federal government for the sake of state development.

"If they declare a war on us, of course we will retaliate. However, if there is a cooperation between us in line with democracy, we will adhere to that," he said.