PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has withdrawn his proposal for talks on national consensus with the BN, and has instead placed himself on ‘war-footing’ with the federal ruling coalition.

"Now there is no dialogue. No more national consensus. We fight! Why? (Because they are) rude!" Anwar told supporters at a ceramah in Kajang last night.

He said the decision was grounded in the “abuse of power” by the BN and a “corrupt judiciary”, also condemning his conviction for sodomy last Friday, when the government won its appeal in the Court of Appeal.

The judges who heard the appeal had “ignored the facts to agree with the prosecution’s submissions” by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Anwar said.

"Three judges, the same with Shafee. Sentencing made without regard to the facts," he claimed as his audience of hundreds shouted Fight!" in response.

On Jan 26, Anwar had invited the BN to discuss elements that threaten unity and inter-religious harmony, to arrive at national consensus in dealing with the rising number of unsavoury incidents.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak reciprocated by proposing "national reconciliation talks" which, he said, had the support of his cabinet.

Last Friday, the Court of Appeal overturned the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s acquittal of Anwar on the charge of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Anwar was sentenced to five years’ jail but allowed a stay of execution and freed him on bail of RM10,000, pending his appeal in the Federal Court.

This also rendered him ineligible to contest the by-election for the Kajang state seat on March 23, and thwarted the ‘Kajang Move’, which planned to propel him into the Selangor government.

His wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail filed her nomination papers this morning and will meet the BN’s Chew Mei Fun in a straight fight.