KUALA LUMPUR - DE FACTO opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is cementing an official alliance as he tries to attract enough government lawmakers to defect to the opposition, in a bid to topple Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

'Give it another week for it to be finalised,' Datuk Seri Anwar said of an official agreement, adding that the 'next few weeks are very critical' in determining the extent of any swing by Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to his opposition.

He said that some BN lawmakers have approached the opposition about leaving the government.

The possibility has been raised amid widespread grumbles within BN's ranks, especially in Sabah.

Datuk Seri Anwar yesterday did not say how many MPs had voiced a willingness to defect.

'They are approaching us because they realise - for Sabah and Sarawak - we have a better deal for them,' he said, adding that the opposition would offer them more royalties from Borneo's natural resources, more development and more help for the poor.

However, political experts do not think the opposition can persuade enough BN MPs to defect, especially in Sarawak, where its chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud is a BN stalwart whose son has been appointed a deputy minister.

The opposition meanwhile appears to be giving Datuk Seri Anwar its full support, even though he cannot hold political office until next month.

Leaders of the three parties in the coalition, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), have agreed to make PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail the next parliamentary opposition leader - until her husband Datuk Seri Anwar wins a parliamentary seat, according to a statement released by the opposition and quoted by online newspaper Malaysiakini.

In a separate statement, previous parliamentary opposition leader and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang said: ' Wan Azizah is the ideal candidate as the new parliamentary opposition leader with PKR having the most parliamentary seats of the three opposition parties in Parliament.'

Datuk Seri Anwar, 60, who was fired in 1998 as deputy premier by then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, could not participate in the March 8 general elections because of a conviction on corruption charges, which he denies.

He has said that he plans to run for one of the seats currently held by his party when the ban ends in the middle of next month.

His wife Wan Azizah has already offered her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat, which she retained with a convincing majority of 13,388 votes at the last election.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, however, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said he was confident of the loyalty of BN lawmakers, and said there was no danger of any of them defecting to the opposition.

'Why should the government topple?' he said, referring to Datuk Seri Anwar's claims.

'He (Anwar) claims so many things. Let him claim whatever he wants.'

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS