Published July 15, 2009

Opposition wins Kelantan seat

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(KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysia's opposition held on for a narrow win in a state seat by-election in one of its strongholds yesterday as the country's new prime minister saw his approval ratings surge.

The Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), one of three parties in the opposition People's Alliance, held on to the Manik Urai constituency in the north-eastern Malay heartland state of Kelantan with a majority of just 65 votes, down from a majority of 1,352 in the 2008 general and state elections.

The opposition - comprising PAS, a mainly ethnic Chinese party and reformers headed by former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim - has been hit by a series of damaging rows in recent weeks.

Some top PAS officials have talked of a possible alliance with the government that has ruled this South-east Asian country of 27 million people for the last 51 years but which stumbled to its biggest ever election losses in polls held last year.

'We're beginning to see signs that Prime Minister Najib (Razak) is able to lead a turnaround, because in Manik Urai, it was the undecided . . . who decided the final outcome, and many of them would have voted in a show of support for Najib for the results to have come out this way,' said Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, political analyst at the National University of Malaysia.

Malaysia's National Front coalition had been hit by a series of by-election losses since the March 2008 election when it lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and five out of 13 states ended up in opposition hands.

Mr Najib has however seen his approval ratings surge to 65 per cent in a poll this month, up from 45 per cent in mid-May after announcing a series of economic reforms to boost competitiveness.

Mr Najib marked his 100th day in office last week with a slew of announcements including road toll rate cuts and other popular measures aimed at bolstering mass support. -- Reuters