Mahathir's coalition wins by landslide victory
Mahathir's coalition wins by landslide victory
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's National Front coalition yesterday was re-elected by a landslide in Malaysia's ninth general election, leaving the opposition, which had exploited sectarian issues, in tatters.
The opposition ethnic-Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) saw its bid for power in Penang, Malaysia's northern industrial hub, fizzle out with the crushing defeat of its leader, Lim Kit Siang, by Chief Minister Koh Tsu Koon.
Koh defeated Lim by a thumping 7,487-vote majority at the final count.
"This is our biggest victory since independence and many new records have been created," said Mahathir.
Mahathir earned a fourth five-year term, while the National Front, savoring its biggest win since Malaysia's independence in 1957, retained a firm grip on 12 of Malaysia's 13 states.
The Front made strong headway into the sole opposition-led Kelantan, by winning two parliamentary and seven state seats to chip away at the stronghold of the Moslem Parti Islam (PAS) after failing to take a single ward in the 1990 polls.
Mahathir said the National Front's overwhelming win signaled rejection of the racial and sectarian politics of the opposition, particularly the DAP and PAS.
"In my opinion, they did not get the kind of support we did because the voters are already mature and have rejected the strongly racial politics of the DAP and the religious fanaticism of PAS," a jubilant Mahathir told a news conference.
But the Front's sweep was tempered by a strong Christian- opposition showing in Sabah, the oil-and-timber rich eastern state, where the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) took eight of the state's 20 seats in the federal parliament.
At the final tally, the 14-party National Front swept 161 seats in the 192-member Dewan Rakyat for a more than two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament.
The DAP won nine while PAS, which, as expected, retained control of Kelantan, bagged seven parliamentary seats, with the near-decimated Semangat 46 led by Mahathir's archfoe Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah taking six.
The results for a remaining parliamentary seat in the rural Kinabatangan seat in eastern Sabah state will be announced today.
With Mahathir making good his promise to crush the opposition, the National Front saw its share of the popular vote soar to more than 63 percent from 53.4 percent in the 1990 polls.
Mahathir had campaigned for re-election on the platform that only his multi-racial coalition could ensure the stability Malaysia needed to continue rapid economic expansion and full employment.
Malaysia's economy has grown by more than eight percent annually over the past seven years, fueled by huge inflows of foreign capital that have transformed the country into a newly industrialized nation.
New cabinet
The prime minister is expected to announce his new cabinet early next week, according to official sources.
Officials said major changes were in store because he will need to replace at least six ministers, including four from his own United Malays National Organization (UMNO), one from Sabah who crashed out in the polls and one from a component party who did not seek re-election.
Health Minister Lee Kim Sai from the Malaysian Chinese Association did not contest, while federal minister Bernard Dompok and federal deputy minister Jeffrey Kitingan from Sabah were defeated in the polls.
Public Enterprises Minister Yusof Nor, National Unity and Social Development Minister Napsiah Omar, Sports Minister Ghani Othman and Agriculture Minister Sanusi Junid vied in state constituencies.
Analysts said the runaway victory had enhanced Mahathir's position as president of UMNO -- the linchpin of the National Front -- to thwart any possible bid by supporters of his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, to prematurely oust him from office in party elections next year.
Mahathir has been at the helm since 1981.
Boost -- Page 8