Malaysian resignation points to more trouble

 By John Burton in Singapore. Published: September 15 2008 11:34 | Last updated: September 15 2008 11:34

The resignation of Malaysia's law minister on Monday has revealed a growing rift within the government that could speed the departure of Abdullah Badawi as prime minister.  Zaid Ibrahim, a prominent reformer, said he was resigning in protest over use of the nation's internal security act to arrest three government opponents on Friday. The ISA allows imprisonment with trial. Several other cabinet members, including the information minister, also criticised the move. The security crackdown came as Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, said he was ready to unseat the government by attracting at least 30 government members of parliament to his side. But he suggested that plans to make a move against the government by Tuesday might be delayed to preserve national stability. The government's decision to arrest an opposition politician, a leading political blogger and a journalist appears to have backfired, although the journalist was later released. The arrests came against the background of recent remarks by a Penang-based politician from the dominant United Malays National Organisation who described the ethnic Chinese as "squatters and immigrants" and compared them to Jews in an anti-Semitic comment.  The remarks triggered a furore among the ethnic Chinese minority, who have long complained that they have been treated as second-class citizens by the ethnic Malay majority that have controlled the national government since independence from the UK in 1957.  There have been suggestions that ethnic Chinese parties affiliated with the National Front coalition government might switch to the opposition because of the incident. The government sought to end the controversy by suspending the Umno politician from the party for three years. But the move upset other Umno members and the security crackdown against the three for allegedly stirring up racial hatred against Malays was seen as appeasing Umno.  The tough action was seen as an attempt by Mr Abdullah to shore up his eroding support within Umno. The prime minister has been under pressure to resign in wake of the government's poor electoral performance in March. He announced in July that he would hand over power to Najib Razak, the deputy prime minister, in mid-2010. Muhyiddin Yassin, the trade minister who is seen as the next deputy prime minister, suggested last week that Mr Abdullah should step down earlier in the first open rift in the cabinet about the prime minister's future.  Mr Najib, who has supported Mr Abdullah, also appeared to be shifting his stance on the issue by saying that delegates to a scheduled Umno convention in December had to approve the 2010 deadline for the prime minister's departure. Many Umno members say they want Mr Abdullah to leave earlier.  Mr Abdullah's fate could be decided as early as Thursday when Umno's powerful supreme council holds its monthly meeting.