Opposition plans dirty tricks campaign: Mahathir

Opposition plans dirty tricks campaign: Mahathir

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, buoyed by pre-election praise from the visiting Chinese
premier and soaring economic growth figures, accused on Wednesday
a "desperate" opposition of planning a dirty tricks campaign.

During an earlier campaign stop the premier lashed out at his
longstanding betes noires, the foreign press, while the powerful
youth wing of his ruling party accused foreign embassies of
funding the opposition.

"They (opposition) are so desperate to win that they would
resort to spreading rumors and blatantly lying to win votes," the
73-year-old premier said in the southern state of Johor.

He said the Alternative Front planned to issue leaflets
contrary to Islamic teachings and claim they were the work of the
ruling party.

"They even spread rumors that I was dead when I went to
hospital for treatment (earlier this year). That is how low they
can go."

Mahathir said the ruling National Front coalition was
confident of winning the Nov. 29 polls with an even larger
parliamentary majority than its current four-fifths.

After 18 years in power Mahathir is expected to face a tougher
fight than usual after the sacking and jailing of his former
deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

He also lashed out at the Islamic rulers of Kelantan state,
which he is scheduled to visit on Thursday. The area is part of
the northern ethnic Malay heartland, a key battleground after
Anwar's treatment split the ethnic Malay vote.

Mahathir said Kelantan, after nine years of rule by the Parti
Islam SeMalaysia, was now the poorest state in the country, and
that its talented people had to seek work elsewhere "just like
the Bangladeshis."

Earlier on Wednesday in Sarawak state, Mahathir said the
opposition had branded the polls "unfair and corruptible."

"They know they will lose and that is the reason they say:
'The election is unfair and that's why we lose... it is not
because we are unpopular but the government cheats. "They have
already prepared the reason for their defeat."

Postal voting began on Wednesday for more than 235,000 police
and soldiers, a process the opposition says can be swayed by
superior officers.

Mahathir also called the foreign media "friends" of the
opposition alliance. "Their friends from CNN, CNBC and the BBC
are already saying that the election will be the most corrupted.

These foreign media support the (opposition) who receive no
support from Malaysians themselves," he said.

Mahathir said his National Front did not need foreign
assistance. "They (foreigners) hate the Malaysian government and
they hate me also because we don't bow to them... We don't ask
the help of the IMF when our economy goes down. Instead, we use
our own mind to implement our currency control (in September
1998) and to subsequently revive our economy."

Visiting Chinese premier Zhu Rongji gave the policies his
blessing in a speech on Wednesday, saying they hastened economic
recovery.

Zhu told a lunch meeting the foreign media had been severely
critical of these policies but "I said to Mahathir that his
policy was correct."

Opposition parties accuse Mahathir of timing the poll to use
Zhu's visit to woo ethnic Chinese voters.

Malaysia's central bank reported on Wednesday third-quarter
economic growth of more than eight percent year-on-year, which it
attributed largely to stability created by the capital controls.

The powerful youth wing of Mahathir's United Malays National
Organization (UMNO), the leading party in the National Front,
also accused foreign embassies of funding opposition parties.

Abdul Azim Zabidi, a senior UMNO youth official, told the
Utusan Malaysia newspaper that diplomats were meeting politicians
and attending press conferences by opposition leaders and
Mahathir rallies.

He urged the government to investigate and named the U.S.
embassy and the high commissions of Canada, Australia and
Britain.

"The parties which are willing to accept assistance or bribes
such as this are traitors to this country and its people. They
should be punished heavily because they want to sell the
country," he added.

All the missions denied funding either side, and said
attending election events was part of normal diplomatic practice.