KUALA LUMPUR: "Next trip, Taipei!" This was what Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim jokingly said when he arrived at the Sessions Court here for his sodomy case hearing.

He was apparently referring to the 41 Barisan Nasional MPs who left for Taipei recently for a study tour.

Many had speculated that the trip was planned to derail the Pakatan Rakyat adviser's plan to topple the Government on Sept 16 by getting Barisan MPs to jump ship, although many quarters have denied this. Most of them will return on Sept 17.

On whether the Pakatan Rakyat's goal to usher in a new government on Sept 16 is on track, Anwar said: "Very much so. We will comment on that issue in the next one or two days." Immediately after that, he added "Next trip, Taipei!"

Later, after the case was postponed to Sept 24 for both sides to present their cases on whether to transfer the case to the High Court, Anwar said the Datuk Ahmad Ismail issue was an incitement by Umno leaders.

"To deflect attention from abuse of power, corruption, mismanagement of the economy and the impending and imminent change (of government) in this country," he said after stepping out of the lift from the fourth floor of the court complex.

He said the Ahmad issue was a wrong and unjust one to use on innocent Malays, bumiputras, Chinese and Indians.

In Kuala Terengganu, state PAS commissioner Datuk Mustafa Ali said the Sept 16 plan may just not materialise for now, based on technical and political aspects.

Anwar, he said, may have to wait for a while for his ambitious plan to take over the Federal Government.

Mustafa, who spoke as political analyst and not as his capacity of a leader in the party, said the two reasons that he saw would delay the process was technical where a change in the Government could not take place without the vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister or his resignation.

"Parliament has adjourned for the fasting month and, as such, no confidence vote can be tabled. Besides, the Prime Minister has continuously said he would not relinquish his post," he said.

From the political aspect, Mustafa noted that defection of Barisan MPs had never happened.

Mustafa said PKR had also not officially consulted PAS on the proposed takeover of the Government.