Police seal off Malaysia's parliament
Updated
Opposition politicians in Malaysia have walked out of parliament, after the speaker refused to allow a debate on a motion of no-confidence in the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi.
Heavily armed police sealed off the building and erected barbed-wire barricades, to prevent the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim from attending the session with his supporters.
Roads leading to parliament were also closed, amid fears Dr Anwar was planning a rally in support of the no-confidence motion.
Dr Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program the events in parliament are not surprising.
"I am disappointed but not surprised because I think that most of our motion that have been brought forth, that has this sort of connotation going against the government, has always been turned down," she said.
"We weren't surprised but we were disappointed because the Speaker is usually quite fair."
Dr Anwar is due to be questioned by police about sodomy allegations against him, but he has refused to meet them.
Dr Anwar's Keadilan party says he defied the order because it was not served properly and he was angry over being barred from parliament.
The latest sodomy claim threatens to derail a stunning political comeback by Dr Anwar.
Dr Anwar has said he is poised to seize power from the premier, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, with the help of government defectors, after his opposition alliance claimed one third of parliamentary seats and five states in March elections.
In 1998, Dr Anwar was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption allegations that he said were politically motivated.
He was freed from prison in September, 2004, after six years in custody, when the country's top court quashed his conviction and nine-year jail sentence for sodomy.
The same court later refused to hear a new appeal against his conviction and six-year sentence for corruption.
As a result he was barred from holding political office until this year.
