KL opposition warns of violence during election

KL opposition warns of violence during election

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Opposition parties and supporters of
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday accused one another of
provoking violence as the campaign for the crucial Nov. 29
general election heated up.

A spokesman for the four-party opposition coalition said some
supporters of the ruling National Front, armed with traditional
machetes called parang, had threatened anti-government activists
and even beaten one of them.

At a news conference, the opposition parties produced Ahmad
Farid bin Ismail, 24, who said the black scars on his face were
from a beating by activists of Mahathir's United Malays National
Organization, the dominant partner in the ruling coalition.

Ahmad said he was attacked by 20 men on Sunday morning in a
Kuala Lumpur suburb. The men were wearing badges and clothes
bearing UMNO insignia, he told reporters.

"In the last two days, there have been a dozen or so cases,"
said Raja Petra, spokesman for the National Justice Party, which
is headed by the wife of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

A snap general vote was called by Mahathir last week, catching
the opposition by surprise. Tensions are expected to be high
during the campaign because the opposition says it is determined
to deny Mahathir his traditional two-third majority in
Parliament.

Mahathir, 73, Asia's longest-serving ruler, faces a united
opposition for the first time. The Justice party banded together
with three other groups to capitalize on the wave of anti-
Mahathir sentiments caused by the sacking and arrest of the Anwar
last year. The ousted deputy prime minister is serving a six-year
jail term for corruption and facing a sodomy trial

Deputy Home Minister Azmi Khalid accused opposition parties
of creating tensions. He said some people had entered forcibly
into a National Front election office, resulting in a skirmish
between activists on Saturday. There were no report of injuries.

The Election Commission on Tuesday accused opposition
supporters in states where campaigning is expected to be most
fierce of tearing down flags and posters put up by supporters of
ruling coalition.

"We've found tattered flags and posters floating in the
river," Election Commission Secretary Ahmad Omar told The
Associated Press. "We believe this was the work of irresponsible
opposition supporters."

Ahmad said this had occurred over the past few days in the
eastern Kelantan and Terengganu states, where Mahathir plans to
concentrate his National Front's election campaign.

The culprits could be charged under Malaysia's Police Act,
Ahmad added.

Kelantan is the only Malaysian state not governed by
Mahathir's coalition. The state came under the rule of the
fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 1990.

Political analysts believe Mahathir could face his toughest
electoral battle in Kelantan, where majority Malay Muslims are
often warned by religious teachers that Mahathir's government has
abandoned many Islamic principles.

Meanwhile, the sex trial of Malaysia's jailed former finance
minister Anwar Ibrahim has been postponed because the judge is
ill and not because of elections later this month, court
officials said on Tuesday.

Anwar's sodomy trial was postponed indefinitely on Monday in a
move that could take the charismatic ex-minister out of the
public eye in the run-up to the Nov. 29 polls and remove a
headache for Mahathir during the campaign.

Defense lawyers said the High Court gave no reason for the
suspension when it was communicated to them in a letter.
But High Court officials said Judge Arifin Jaka was ill and
resting at home.

"The judge is not well and has a medical certificate to stay
away from work until November 20," a High Court official told
Reuters.

Anwar's trial is central to Malaysian politics as he is the
opposition's candidate to become prime minister if the four
parties win the elections.