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(Agencies) - The "mother of all by-elections" has been set for Aug 26 but opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's make-or-break attempt to return to Parliament has been complicated by the fact that he will be charged with sodomy today.
Police went to Mr Anwar's home yesterday afternoon and served an order for him to appear in the Sessions Court this morning to face a charge of sodomising his former aide, Mr Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 23. Mr Anwar, who also faced similar sodomy allegations in the late 1990s, lost no time in accusing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of orchestrating the prosecution to destroy his political comeback. He said it was clearly timed to undermine his campaign for the by-election. Earlier in the morning, the Election Commission announced that the Permatang Pauh by-election in Penang — which had been vacated by Mr Anwar's wife — would be held on Aug 26, with Nomination Day on Aug 16. "This charge is only possible on the orders from the Prime Minister," Mr Anwar, 60, told the media at party headquarters. Mr Anwar said he believed that the PM and other officials had pressed for him to be prosecuted despite what he said was a lack of evidence. Mr Abdullah is "a man under siege and he sees no way out but to deflect the attention of the Malaysian people with a sham trial against me", he said. The PM denied any conspiracy. "How could I insist that he be charged? If there is no evidence, the police are not so stupid to charge" him. He also rejected suggestions that the sodomy allegations were an attempt to divert the public's attention from government problems. "This is not going to deflect from the kind of problems we have," said the PM after a Barisan Nasional (BN) meeting yesterday. He confirmed that BN would field a candidate for the by-election. WHAT NEXT? An Election Commission official said Mr Anwar could still contest the Aug 26 by-election even after charges were laid, although he would be disqualified if found guilty and jailed. The crime of sodomy carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail. Keadilan information chief Tian Chua said that if Mr Anwar goes to trial, the case will begin in September at the earliest, meaning there will be no outcome until well after the election. While Mr Anwar is bracing himself for a tough court fight, many analysts believe that he will have an easier time winning the by-election in his hometown. Mr Ibrahim Suffian of the Merdeka Centre, an independent research firm, said "barring an unforseen situation", a win for Mr Anwar was virtually assured, as the seat had been held by his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, since his fall from grace in 1998. "The key thing will be the margin by which he wins .... as a barometer of how opposition support has improved or not since March," Mr Ibrahim said, referring to the March 8 general elections which saw the ruling BN lose its two-thirds majority.
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The Blogs 
One to elevate him, another kills him with sodomy
Anwar to appear in court as fight escalates
Let’s add our 25 sens to this continuing debate
Seriously:
We, of course support, our governments’ impeccable integrity
We have nothing to gain from this except a little money
We always abide by kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
Until of course UMNO provide us a more profitable jalan
We definitely rasa kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara
But we act on the say so of our beloved Almighty Dollar
Of course, keluhuran perlembagaan is a must
So in UMNO and Dollar we should trust
There must be kedaulatan undang undang by everyone
Unless you are the UMNO elites and their chosen ones
We have the best kesopanan and kesusilan that money can buy
We can easily pay or cow anyone to close an eye
Armed with C4 and evidence for which we are willing to pay
Our UMNO demoneycratic system is perfectly semua-nya OK!