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Malaysia's Mahathir
in command, opposition laments wasted chance
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30
(AFP) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday celebrated an
emphatic
poll victory which secured his legacy as Asia's longest-serving elected leader but also saw big gains by an Islamic opposition. Despite predictions
of a major backlash over the Anwar Ibrahim affair, Mahathir's National Front
coalition won 148 of
the 193 parliamentary seats and kept power in nine of 11 state assemblies. The Parti Islam
SeMalaysia (PAS) and not the secular opposition parties proved the biggest
winner from the issue of
ex-deputy premier Anwar, whose sacking and treatment last year divided the sympathies of ethnic Malays. PAS more than
tripled its parliamentary seats to 27, kept control of Kelantan state assembly
in the northern Malay
heartland and captured neighbouring Terengganu. Biggest loser was
the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP), which in its leader's words
had been for three
decades "the outspoken, courageous lone political voice for a democratic and secular Malaysia." The National Justice
Party (Keadilan) won five seats. It was formed by Anwar's wife Wan Azizah just
before he was
jailed for six years in April for abusing his powers. PAS, the DAP,
Keadilan and the small Malaysian People's Party are part of the Alternative
Front alliance. Anwar was
its candidate for premier. Some analysts said
the result indicated widening divisions among the Malays who make up more than
half the country's
22 million population. Chinese account for some 30 percent and Indians 10 percent. "The Malay world is
in turmoil and nothing has made that more evident than this general election,"
the pro-government
Sun newspaper said in an editorial. It said the result
erased any doubt about Mahathir's command of the political scene with an
emphatic win in his fifth and
probably last election at age 73. But as the premier
cut a cake early Tuesday to cheers and shouts of "Mahathir boleh" (Mahathir
can), the daily warned
PAS gains signalled a "dissatisfied, protesting Malay multitude." It said the ruling party must now find ways to unite the community. DAP leader Lim Kit
Siang, who lost his own seat, described the election as "a historic opportunity
missed" to end the
National Front's political domination. "It has set the
country on an uncertain and perilous course," he said.
Mahathir's United
Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the backbone of the National Front, will be
"under great
pressure to respond to the PAS challenge by competing on Islamisation policies to win back the Malay heartland," he added. Wan Azizah hailed
the opposition's achievement but blamed "scare tactics" by pro-government media
and the exclusion of
680,000 new voters from the electoral roll for the failure to make a breakthrough. Hoarse after days of
successful campaigning to capture Anwar's old seat, she told AFP: "We have
reduced their majority
considerably. A little edge would have given us victory. We have to work a little harder." Wan Azizah said her
seven-month-old party had "done a lot."
"Malays have given
us support -- our support was mainly from Malay areas."
PAS president Fadzil
Noor said his party would bring the people development and ensure its two state
governments were
clean and free of corruption. The Bangkok-based
Asian Network for Free Election, which deployed observers at polling stations in
eight states, said it
found traces of fraud such as phantom voters and could not conclude the election was "free and fair." Sunai Phasuk, a
member of the watchdog, said migrants from the Philippines were given identity
cards on condition they
vote for the National Front. Watchdogs also received reports of the use of fake identity cards in other states. The group said the
irregularities did not mean the overall result of the poll was
invalid.
State Bernama news
agency said Mahathir was expected to meet the king early Wednesday to brief him
on the formation
of a new government. |
