Mahathir to support two frontline states

Mahathir to support two frontline states

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): With three days to Malaysia's national
polls, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was yesterday promising to
pump resources into two frontline states if his National Front
coalition was returned to power.

The National Front has unveiled an addendum to its national
manifesto for Malaysia's sole opposition-led Kelantan state in
the northeast, pledging one billion ringgit (US$416 million) in
projects to create more than 20,000 jobs within a year if it won
power.

"The manifesto is proof of our commitment to raise the living
standard in Kelantan so that it does not lag behind other
states," said Annuar Musa, the National Front chairman for
Kelantan.

In a blatant appeal to the people in Kelantan to reject the
fundamentalist opposition Parti Islam (PAS), Annuar said only the
National Front coalition government could develop the rural Malay
heartland into a "model state."

Kelantan is the only state out of the National Front's reach
after it was crushed by PAS in the 1990 polls.

Analysts said there was no doubt that the National Front would
win its traditional two-thirds majority in federal parliament in
the April 24-25 polls, but a crucial battle was brewing in
Malaysia's sole ethnic-Chinese dominated state in Penang.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) is mounting what it called a
"do-or-die" bid for control of the northern state, which is home
to the world's major electronic corporations and the country's
wealthiest and most industrialized state.

After criss-crossing Malaysia's 13 states, covering up to two
states a day, Mahathir was yesterday campaigning for the second
time in 10 days in northern Penang state, which is set to be the
key battleground in the polls.

"The prime minister wants to drive home his message to the
people of Penang that the fate of the industrialized state's
future lies in their hands. If they choose the Democratic Action
Party (DAP), the state's development will come to a grinding
halt," a National Front campaigner said.

Clearly worried about losing an economic linchpin, Mahathir
was preparing for a heart-to-heart dialog with the local Penang
Chinese community late yesterday.

Mahathir had warned voters that the state would be "finished"
if they allowed DAP's Lim Kit Siang to unseat Penang's chief
minister Koh Tsu Koon in the coming polls.

"I hope Penang will not be duped," Mahathir had said when
spearheading a vituperative campaign against Lim, even calling
Malaysia's opposition leader of 25 years a "nincompoop".

Campaigners on the ground said at the last unofficial gauge,
Lim, secretary-general of DAP -- the country's largest ethnic-
Chinese opposition party, had the "upper hand" in his bid to
unseat Koh in the local state constituency of Tanjung Bunga.

"But the National Front is stepping up an 11th hour fight.
Votes can easily swing either way," said a local political
analyst, wary that Lim succeeded in toppling Koh's predecessor in
the 1990 polls.

Analysts said with Mahathir personally plotting the
coalition's defenses in the state, there is still a fair chance
of holding on to Penang.

"(Koh) Tsu Koon is humble, clean and approachable, generally
he enjoys a positive image," said Chandra Muzaffar, a leading
political scientist of Koh's chances.