Sabah election to test Mahathir

Mon, 18 Jan 1999, 00:00 WIB | Source: REUTERS

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.

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