Malaysia Notes

"It's not easy, (but) I'm very confident," he said, predicting that BN would resume its rule over the state, but declined to reveal details.He said several PR assemblymen were approached and given the chance to join BN, adding that they should be crossing over.When asked about his confidence, he said: "Have I ever spoken (of this) before?"PR has 31 assemblymen to BN's 28, with 18 from DAP, seven from PKR and six from Pas.

It was only a matter of waiting for the first state representative to join BN, he said after a closed-door meeting dubbed "An Evening with Ezam Mohd Noor" here yesterday.Ezam, the former PKR youth chief who rejoined Umno, would give courage to other PKR members to do the same, he added.Meanwhile, Ezam said he was informed by sources in PKR that the PR alliance would fall apart earlier than expected."I have many friends in PR and they have voiced discomfort and suspicion concerning the state government."

He said he placed more confidence in Tajol Rosli's prediction rather than PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim's claim that PR would form the federal government by Sept 16.He said Anwar was not fit to lead the country as he no longer had the spirit of a statesman, where one would put the nation's interest ahead of his own.PKR's efforts to hold a gathering of one million people to protest the hike in fuel prices today was only a cover for the party's weakness.

"Everyone knows PKR has a weak structure and many problems at branch and division level. "To cover it up, they are organising demonstrations because demonstrations are easy to do."