Ruling coalition retains power in Sabah state

Ruling coalition retains power in Sabah state

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling
government was returned to power late Saturday in a crucial
election in the east Malaysian state of Sabah.

Mahathir's multiracial Barisan Nasional (National Front)
coalition government won 26 of the 48 contested seats as at 10.45
p.m. (1445 GMT) to form the new state legislative assembly for
the next five- year term.

The leading opposition party, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS),
grabbed 17 seats. Counting was still continuing for the remaining
five seats.

The Barisan's victory was a welcome boost for Mahathir, who
has to call a nationwide general election by April 2000.

Political analysts had said the outcome of the Sabah state
polls was a key indicator of how the Barisan, which has ruled
Malaysia since independence in 1957, would perform next year.

A total of 199 candidates, nine of whom were women, ran in the
Sabah state polls. Polling, which began Friday and closed
Saturday, went off without incident.

The Barisan had held 43 of the 48 seats in the previous state
government before its dissolution. In the 1994 Sabah polls, the
PBS won by garnering 25 seats to the Barisan's 23.

But, the PBS government toppled after a mere three weeks in
power when 21 of its victorious candidates defected to the BN,
allowing the BN to take power.

Opposition politicians had predicted the Barisan's defeat in
Sabah, citing dissatisfaction with the Barisan rule, the current
economic recession, and the sacking and arrest of former deputy
premier Anwar Ibrahim as factors that would dent the Barisan's
edge with voters.