Sabah election to test Mahathir

Sabah election to test Mahathir

KOTA KINABALU (Reuters): Malaysia's political battleground soon shifts to Sabah state on Borneo Island where Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad faces his first test of strength since sacking his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

The Sabah legislature's five-year term ends on March 18, and polls in the oil-rich state are widely expected in coming weeks.

They will be the first elections since Mahathir dismissed Anwar from his cabinet in September, exposing divisions in his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) which has been Malaysia's dominant party since independence in 1957.

Mahathir's Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, which also rules Sabah, has not indicated when elections will take place. But Sabah leaders met Mahathir on Saturday in the federal capital to discuss poll dates.