Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, the wife of the former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, has also confirmed she will contest the next general election if the jailing of her husband prevents him from standing.

Mr Anwar, who is serving a six-year sentence for corruption, said last September that his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, would represent his political interests if he was sent to prison.

John Maclean in Manila: Wan Azizah knows that what she said could lead to her arrest in Malyasia

On her visit to the Philippines, Wan Azizah said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's hold on power was slipping fast, but she wanted him voted out of office rather than ousted violently.

She described Dr Mahathir as "a once respected prime minister who has lost all sense of perspective, all sense of right and wrong and all sense of reality".

Anwar Ibrahim is to be put on trial again for sodomy

"(He) now rules not by popular approval but (with) an iron fist, using the institutions of government to destroy any and all challenges to his increasingly slippery hold on power,'' she added.

Wan Azizah likened her husband's reform movement to the Philippines' battle with dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Standing next to her was former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who took up the movement against Marcos after her husband was assassinated and led the 1986 "people power" revolution.

Filipino Professor of Political Science Alex Magno on the parallels between Wan Azizah and Corazon Aquino

Wan Azizah said Mrs Aquino and the people of the Philippines had shown that a dictator could be overthrown ''if the masses draw a line in the sand and say enough, no more".

The Malaysian Government has protested against Wan Azizah's trip, which has also included a private meeting with Philippines President Joseph Estrada,

The BBC correspondent in Manila says Dr Azizah's speech was a very emotional one, and she acknowledged that what she had said could lead to her arrest on her return to Kuala Lumpur.

Agents provocateurs

In a Philippines television broadcast, Wan Azizah said she would pursue her husband's reform policies if the opposition National Justice Party wanted her to stand.

She blamed what she called "agents provocateurs" for recent violent protests in her country and said the conviction of her husband was part of a "conspiracy of the highest order".

Wan Azizah, an eye surgeon and mother of six, heads the National Justice Party, a key rival to the ruling coalition.

The National Justice Party, which was set up by Mr Anwar's supporters after his arrest, said on Wednesday it had formed an alliance with three other opposition factions to contest upcoming elections.