Malaysian compaign hots up in ad row
Malaysian compaign hots up in ad row
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia opened a hotly contested
election campaign on Sunday with the opposition leader accusing
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's coalition of illegally whipping
up fear to intimidate voters.
Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general of the Democratic Action
Party (DAP), said he had lodged a complaint with police against
full-page advertisements in several newspapers which he called
"inflammatory and irresponsible".
He said the DAP had decided to lodge more reports with police
accusing Mahathir's Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition of placing
advertisements which constituted criminal defamation and
sedition.
"The Barisan Nasional advertisements are suggesting that the
DAP leaders are mobsters, advocate violence and want anarchy, and
these are highly seditious as well as criminal defamation, which
are criminal offenses," he said in a statement.
Barisan Nasional officials could not be reached for comment.
The advertisements, published on the first day of official
campaigning for the Nov. 29 polls, urged voters to support the BN
for peace and stability, key themes for the ruling alliance.
Full-page BN advertisements in several English and Chinese-
language newspapers depicted anti-government demonstrations by
supporters of jailed former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Next to captions reading Don't Let Anarchy Rule, Don't Let
Violence Triumph and Don't Let Hatred Win were photographs of a
protester kicking a car, a trash bin on fire during a
demonstration and protesters throwing stones at police.
Anwar's sacking in 1998 and subsequent jailing ignited
unprecedented unrest. Anwar says he was the victim of a
government conspiracy, and Mahathir has accused Anwar of trying
to topple the government with riots.
Anwar, who is serving a six-year jail term for corruption, was
the opposition's joint candidate to become prime minister until
he decided not to stand.
Mahathir's 14-party, multi-ethnic coalition faces mostly one-
on-one contests against an opposition bent on denying it a two-
thirds majority for the first time in three decades.
The four-party opposition, emboldened by Anwar's imprisonment,
has closed ranks for the first time to try to trim the prime
minister's four-fifths majority in parliament.
Mahathir spent the first day of the official campaign in his
home state of Kedah, denouncing Anwar and the Islamic
fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) and campaigning in
the constituency of PAS president Fadzil Noor.
"We have seen when he (Anwar) became deputy prime minister, he
asked the police to scare his opponents, asked police to arrest
them," Mahathir said, referring to Anwar's corruption conviction
which found he had abused his power over police.
"If he becomes PM, I'm not sure how many people who oppose him
will be arrested," Mahathir said.
About 500 opposition supporters attended a rain-drenched rally
on the outskirts of the capital, shouting Allahu akbar (God is
greatest) and reformasi (reform), the anti-government slogan of
Anwar's followers.
Speakers accused the Barisan Nasional of using the government
and official media to its electoral advantage, and pledged
support for Anwar even though he is not running.
"We will go all out to win this election for our new prime
minister, Anwar Ibrahim," PAS candidate Hatta Ismail said. "He
may not be with us physically, but spiritually he is our guide."