PAS wins by-election, UMNO takes lead in another
PAS wins by-election, UMNO takes lead in another
Agencies
Pendang, Malaysia
Malaysia's Islamic opposition beat Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad's ruling alliance in a by-election for an assembly seat
on Thursday and built an early lead in counting for a
parliamentary seat in the veteran leader's home state. But
Mahathir's ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) made
up ground and pulled more than 200 votes ahead.
Malaysian voters turned out in force in ballots where Mahathir
is trying to roll back an Islamic tide that snatched away votes
three years ago in favor of opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia
(PAS), which dreams of turning multi-cultural Malaysia into an
Islamic state.
The by-elections in the rural state of Kedah, near the Thai
border, are for parliamentary and provincial assembly seats held
by Fadzil Noor, who led PAS until his death last month.
A televised announcement from the Kedah state capital Alor
Setar said PAS held the Anak Bukit seat in the Kedah state
assembly with a 508-vote majority.
Shouts of "Allahu Akbar", or "God is Greatest", were heard
from jubilant PAS supporters as an election commission official
read the result.
"We congratulate PAS," said Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi, who will succeed Mahathir when he retires next year
after leading the country for 22 years.
"This is after all their fort, the stronghold of their (PAS)
president himself. At least, we have been able to narrow their
majority and make inroads into areas we have not been able to do
before," said Abdullah.
The defeat in Kedah will hurt Mahathir because it is his home
state. During the election campaign, he was depicted by PAS
posters wearing a catholic priest's robes.
The PAS members demanded and officials granted a recount for
the parliamentary seat. There was no indication how long it could
take.
Both results confirmed, though, that the Islamists have lost
support since 1999, when they capitalized on anger over the
firing and jailing of Mahathir's deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.
Even in the state assembly seat, their victory margin fell to
508 votes Thursday from 1,840 three years ago. They won the
parliamentary seat in 1999 by 2,934 votes.
The contest was the first head-to-head fight between the
parties since Sept. 11, which has raised fears of extremism among
many of Malaysia's 23 million people.