He also alleged that the manipulation of postal votes cost the opposition another 10 seats.

Reiterating his stance that the processes of the March 8 general election were unfair, Anwar said that he has learnt that the Barisan Nasional-led (BN) government decided to do away with the indelible ink when they realised that the opposition was edging close to a simple majority.

“The decision came about as the government knew the opposition was edging towards a simple majority and the PM decided to cancel the use of the indelible ink.

“I was in India a few weeks ago and they could not believe that a decision to cancel the use of the ink was made five days before the general election,” Anwar told a packed audience of merchant bankers, fund managers and leaders of corporations during a luncheon talk at a conference organised by CLSA in Singapore yesterday.

Replying to a question on moral and ethical issues that were raised by Umno-led BN should their elected members of parliament (MPs) decide to defect, Anwar said that it was morally indefensible for the elected representatives to support the present regime.

On the question of Dr Mahathir leaving Umno, Anwar said that the former Umno president and prime minister no longer wielded as much influence in the party as before.

“But the question that will be asked is, was he a fair prime minister? His reason for leaving Umno was because he felt the party had failed to champion the Malay rights. This is not tenable,” he said.

Anwar also questioned the logic behind Dr Mahathir’s condition of rejoining Umno after Abdullah has been replaced.

“This means (Abdullah) can be replaced with any other corrupt person for him to rejoin the party,” he said.

Anwar called on the friends of the opposition in Umno not to leave the party but to support the opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat in pursuing their Malaysian Economic Agenda (MEA). He said that before the general election, only Umno was seen as being able to bring about reforms in the system. But that has changed with the elections which showed the opposition can form a viable alternative.

He said that the MEA was a well thought out plan and it took the opposition about 18 months to two years to come out with it and it had been generally accepted by the Malays.

“A substantial number of urban and semi-urban (Malays) supported us, knowing fully well the MEA is to dismantle the present NEP,” he said.

On the question of the expectations of PAS on matters relating to gambling and casino operations should the opposition come to power, Anwar said that the Islamic party has accepted the constitutional guarantees of the country and has participated in the democratic process.

“The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the rule of law. These are in the MEA. We have no problems in the five states ruled by the opposition,” said Anwar.