Background Story

June 18: A small Sabah party, a member of the 14-party ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, says it has lost confidence in Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's leadership and would support a no-confidence motion against him.

June 18: Prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin files a statutory declaration claiming that Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak's wife, was at the scene of the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu.

June 23: BN wins a vote by 129 to 78 to support a motion on a fuel price hike, in the first showdown in Parliament between the government and opposition.

June 25: Datuk Seri Najib dismisses as 'total garbage' the charge that his wife was involved in the case.

June 28: Mr Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 23, an aide of opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim, lodges a police report to say that he was sodomised by his boss.

June 29: Datuk Seri Anwar denies the claims. He hides in the house of the Turkish Ambassador, saying he feared for his life after getting reports that there were hired killers out to get him.

June 30: Mr Anwar emerges from the Turkish Embassy after assurances by top officials that his life was not in danger.

July 3: Mr Anwar produces at a press conference a private investigator who worked for a former adviser of Mr Najib. The private eye claimed in a sworn statement that Mr Najib knew Ms Altantuya.

July 3: Mr Najib calls a news conference to deny that he knew or ever met the Mongolian beauty. He accuses Mr Anwar of bringing up these charges to divert attention from the sodomy claims.