Ruling National Front coalition refused to contest
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(KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysia's opposition won an easy victory yesterday in a special election in a northern state after the ruling coalition declined to contest the vacant seat.
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| Mr Anwar: Dismissed the low voter turnout as quite expected |
The opposition People's Alliance, led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, won the seat in the northern Penang state assembly with more than 6,000 votes. Three independents received less than 1,000 votes in total. The winner, Mansor Othman, will also become deputy chief minister of Penang state.
'I'm thankful . . . that the voters have given us a resounding victory,' Mr Anwar told AP.
The ruling National Front coalition had refused to contest the seat, which Prime Minister Najib Razak said was vacated through 'political games'. The seat fell empty after the incumbent from the opposition alliance resigned amid unsubstantiated claims of corruption.
Mr Najib denied that the ruling coalition feared defeat, but his administration is struggling amid complaints of corruption, poor economic management and racial discrimination.
If it ran and lost - a likely outcome in the opposition stronghold - it would have been the ruling party's fifth loss in six by-elections in less than a year.
Only 7,100 of more than 15,000 eligible voters cast ballots yesterday, compared with a turnout of more than 80 per cent in 2008 general elections.
Mr Anwar dismissed the low turnout as 'quite expected' because the Election Commission had restricted vote canvassing on the election day. Opposition alliance politicians campaigned vigorously with nightly speeches during the past week but the election lost steam when the ruling coalition pulled out.
Another by-election will be held in July to replace a lawmaker in opposition- held northern Kelantan state who died. The ruling coalition has said that it will contest that seat.
Meanwhile, a power struggle in Malaysia's Islamic party will be put to the test in leadership polls this week which pit hardline clerics against young moderates who want to rebrand the party.
The Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) has formed an unlikely alliance with two other opposition parties which has stuck together despite wide differences in their ideologies, giving them a chance to unseat the coalition in the next elections due in several years.
But the PAS general assembly on June 5-7 will lay bare the dilemma at the party's core - whether to swing back to its hardline roots or to put on a more moderate face to continue winning back support after some barren years.
'The party is at a threshold - whether it can transcend its history of catering largely to Muslims and put in place a model that everyone in the country, including non-Muslims, can accept,' said pollster Ibrahim Suffian.
'They need to be able to articulate issues relating to the economy, security, international trade . . . to not only look after your hereafter, but look after your here and today,' said Mr Ibrahim, from Merdeka Centre research.
Some 60 per cent of Malaysians are Muslim Malays, but the population includes large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities; and if PAS wants to break out beyond its niche, it needs to attract support from minorities.
Curiously, despite pushing for the creation of an Islamic state and the introduction of hudud laws such as chopping off thieves' hands, PAS has won the trust and support of many non-Muslims.
Chinese and Indian voters have enthusiastically supported PAS candidates in seats where they stood for the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance, and thousands have joined PAS Supporters' Clubs around the country.
Much of the attraction stems from PAS's reputation as a clean party untainted by the corruption which is endemic in the ruling coalition.
And in northern Kelantan state, where it has long been in power, minorities have few complaints and are not obliged to observe local bylaws that discourage skimpy clothing and high heels. -- AP, AFP
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