KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was adamant about being able to persuade enough Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to cross over to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) even after the failed September 16, 2008 takeover bid, a former PKR leader told the High Court here.

Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, the former PKR Bayan Baru MP and the current Malaysian ambassador to Indonesia, said in his witness statement that Anwar is a “megalomaniac” whose only goal is to be become prime minister.

“He (Anwar) said the numbers were there... that it was just a matter of time (after September 16),” Zahrain, defence witness in Anwar’s civil suit against foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, told the court here.

Zahrain made headlines back in March 2010 when he told Parliament of alleged offers made by Anwar to BN federal lawmakers to defect and join PR.

At the time, Zahrain, along with a few other PKR leaders, quit the party to become BN-friendly independents.

“I believe that the plaintiff is only concerned with his personal agenda, which is to take over Putrajaya ‘at all costs’ quoting the plaintiff’s own words and (he) deemed himself prime minister-in-waiting,” said Zahrain in his witness statement for the defence, which was brought up in court today.

Zahrain said he started doubting Anwar when the September 16 takeover of Putrajaya did not happen and after Anwar made his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, step down as Permatang Pauh MP in order to contest and win the seat in that same year.

“I believed him (Anwar) at one time. But my doubts started after September 16,” Zahrain said.

The hearing resumes tomorrow morning with one final defence witness scheduled to testify — Umno’s Datuk Dr Puad Zarkashi.

Anwar filed the defamation lawsuit against Anifah in 2009, after the Sabah lawmaker dropped the bombshell during a joint news conference with then-United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

During the event, Anifah alleged that the bid was part of Anwar’s purported bid to bring enough federal lawmakers to his side to oust the BN administration from power on September 16, 2008.

The case took an eventful path following repeated attempts by Anifah to have the lawsuit dismissed, before the Federal Court decided in April that the trial should be heard at the High Court here.

Anwar initiated the defamation action seeking RM100 million in compensatory, aggravated and exemplary damages from Anifah in May 2009 following the publicly broadcasted news conference with Clinton.

The PKR de facto chief claimed that Anifah’s accusations were false, unfounded, and were broadcast across both local and international media.

Anifah has claimed that his remarks were intended to be off the record and limited to the people physically present during the press conference in Washington DC.