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.