Political spotlight focuses on Sabah

Political spotlight focuses on Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad this week faces his first electoral test since firing his deputy Anwar Ibrahim when voters in Sabah state on Borneo Island go to the polls to elect a state assembly.

As the first elections since Anwar was dismissed and arrested in September, the Sabah polls will inevitably be interpreted against the backdrop of political turbulence in Peninsular Malaysia and scrutinized for signs of a shift in political winds.

But local peculiarities in the remote state on the northeastern corner of Borneo mean the elections are no referendum on Mahathir's 18-year grip on power.

The prime minister, his new deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and much of the federal Cabinet were all in the eastern state last week. Their lavish attention underscores the importance Mahathir's Barisan Nasional (National Front) attaches to the state.