H-Net* Mahathir's own majority in Kubang Pasu was cut by 7,000.

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Chief minister of Malaysian state quits over poor poll showing KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (AFP) - The chief minister of Kedah in northern Malaysia -- the home state of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad -- announced Saturday he was quitting after the ruling coalition's poor performance there in Monday's elections. "I respectfully announce that after looking at the results of the general election...I have decided to decline any offer or to continue to hold the post of Kedah Menteri Besar (chief minister)," Sanusi Junid said in a statement. Sanusi, quoted by the official Bernama news agency, said he wrote to Mahathir Tuesday to tell him he planned to step down. "After discussing in detail with the prime minister in Langkawi on Thursday, he agreed with my intention." In what he described as the worst performance by the ruling coalition in the northern state, the National Front won only 24 of the 36 state assembly seats and seven of the 15 parliamentary seats. Mahathir's own majority in Kubang Pasu was cut by 7,000. Bernama said "various quarters" had pressured Sanusi to step down after partially blaming him for the losses at the hands of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). PAS previously had only two state seats and no parliamentary seats in Kedah.