KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 -- Thousands of people packed the ballroom and corridors of the five-star Renaissance Hotel on Sunday at the launching of a political party headed by Anwar Ibrahim's wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail.
The Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party) is open to all Malaysians and will work with other opposition groups to "free Malaysia from the stranglehold of crisis and oppression," Azizah said in her speech.
In a show of solidarity against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the heads of other opposition parties attended the launching as VIPs.
Anwar, in a message read out by his political secretary Mohamad Ezam Mohamad Noor, said he was endorsing the new party because he felt it important "to combine and unite political strengths to affirm justice for all.''
The speeches were frequently interrupted by shouts of "Reformasi," but almost every mention of Mahathir's name elicited loud jeers.
During Ezam's delivery, an unidentified man tried to grab a TV camera, but he was quickly dragged out of the hall by party workers, who suspected that he was either a Police Special Branch agent or someone paid by supporters of the ruling National Front to create trouble or at least give the government-controlled press something to report.