KL opposition warns of violence during election<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Opposition parties and supporters of
\nPrime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday accused one another of
\nprovoking violence as the campaign for the crucial Nov. 29
\ngeneral election heated up.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the four-party opposition coalition said some
\nsupporters of the ruling National Front, armed with traditional
\nmachetes called parang, had threatened anti-government activists
\nand even beaten one of them.<\/p>\n
At a news conference, the opposition parties produced Ahmad
\nFarid bin Ismail, 24, who said the black scars on his face were
\nfrom a beating by activists of Mahathir's United Malays National
\nOrganization, the dominant partner in the ruling coalition.<\/p>\n
Ahmad said he was attacked by 20 men on Sunday morning in a
\nKuala Lumpur suburb. The men were wearing badges and clothes
\nbearing UMNO insignia, he told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"In the last two days, there have been a dozen or so cases,\"
\nsaid Raja Petra, spokesman for the National Justice Party, which
\nis headed by the wife of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
A snap general vote was called by Mahathir last week, catching
\nthe opposition by surprise. Tensions are expected to be high
\nduring the campaign because the opposition says it is determined
\nto deny Mahathir his traditional two-third majority in
\nParliament.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, 73, Asia's longest-serving ruler, faces a united
\nopposition for the first time. The Justice party banded together
\nwith three other groups to capitalize on the wave of anti-
\nMahathir sentiments caused by the sacking and arrest of the Anwar
\nlast year. The ousted deputy prime minister is serving a six-year
\njail term for corruption and facing a sodomy trial<\/p>\n
Deputy Home Minister Azmi Khalid accused opposition parties
\nof creating tensions. He said some people had entered forcibly
\ninto a National Front election office, resulting in a skirmish
\nbetween activists on Saturday. There were no report of injuries.<\/p>\n
The Election Commission on Tuesday accused opposition
\nsupporters in states where campaigning is expected to be most
\nfierce of tearing down flags and posters put up by supporters of
\nruling coalition.<\/p>\n
\"We've found tattered flags and posters floating in the
\nriver,\" Election Commission Secretary Ahmad Omar told The
\nAssociated Press. \"We believe this was the work of irresponsible
\nopposition supporters.\"<\/p>\n
Ahmad said this had occurred over the past few days in the
\neastern Kelantan and Terengganu states, where Mahathir plans to
\nconcentrate his National Front's election campaign.<\/p>\n
The culprits could be charged under Malaysia's Police Act,
\nAhmad added.<\/p>\n
Kelantan is the only Malaysian state not governed by
\nMahathir's coalition. The state came under the rule of the
\nfundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 1990.<\/p>\n
Political analysts believe Mahathir could face his toughest
\nelectoral battle in Kelantan, where majority Malay Muslims are
\noften warned by religious teachers that Mahathir's government has
\nabandoned many Islamic principles.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the sex trial of Malaysia's jailed former finance
\nminister Anwar Ibrahim has been postponed because the judge is
\nill and not because of elections later this month, court
\nofficials said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Anwar's sodomy trial was postponed indefinitely on Monday in a
\nmove that could take the charismatic ex-minister out of the
\npublic eye in the run-up to the Nov. 29 polls and remove a
\nheadache for Mahathir during the campaign.<\/p>\n
Defense lawyers said the High Court gave no reason for the
\nsuspension when it was communicated to them in a letter.
\nBut High Court officials said Judge Arifin Jaka was ill and
\nresting at home.<\/p>\n
\"The judge is not well and has a medical certificate to stay
\naway from work until November 20,\" a High Court official told
\nReuters.<\/p>\n
Anwar's trial is central to Malaysian politics as he is the
\nopposition's candidate to become prime minister if the four
\nparties win the elections.<\/p>",
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