Malaysia's modernist multi-religious ruling coalition headed for victory in elections yesterday, but Islamic fundamentalists predicted big gains in a struggle for the votes of the Muslim majority.
With ethnic Chinese and Indian voters holding the balance of power, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front expects to win big nationally but fears a slide towards the Islamists could rattle foreign investors.
The first parliamentary result, in the new administrative capital of Putrajaya south of Kuala Lumpur, went to the ruling National Front by a landslide - -- an expected outcome in a new constituency populated by civil servants.
PHOTO: AFP
Abdullah, himself an Islamic scholar, campaigned hard in the rural Muslim heartland in the north, desperate to woo voters away from the fundamentalist opposition to what he calls "modern and progressive" Islamic rule.
Malaysia was transformed over the past two decades under former premier Mahathir Mohamad from a rubber and tin exporter to one of the world's top 20 trading nations with a high-tech manufacturing base.
But the divide between the urban rich and the rural poor is sharp, with some voters making their way to the polls on foot through jungle tracks as others cruise a spaghetti of six-lane highways in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.
While the opposition Islamic Party (PAS) has promised heaven as a reward for its supporters and castigates the government as corrupt, Abdullah has offered Islamic rule which stresses science as much as religion and protects the rights of non-believers.
After voting in his home state of Penang Sunday, Abdullah predicted the National Front would reverse the losses it suffered at the hands of the Islamic hardliners in the last elections in 1999. The outlook was "very good, as good as it can be," he said.
He forecast a bigger majority in parliament than the two-thirds the front already holds and suggested the ruling party would recapture the state of Terengganu, which PAS wrested from it four years ago.
PAS leader Abdul Hadi Awang, 56, however, was confident of a further swing towards PAS nationally and predicted the party would win control of a third state.
He told reporters after voting in Marang in northwestern Terengganu, that PAS would retain the states of Terrenganu and Kelantan and take neighboring Kedah, giving it control of three out of Malaysia's 13 states.
The loss of Kedah would be a major blow to the National Front and could precipitate a rebellion against Abdullah from within his own faction-ridden party, still unnerved by Mahathir's departure.
"The mood is good," Abdul Hadi told reporters after voting. "God willing we will win two thirds majority in Terengganu. Overall we will see an increase of parliament seats. We can get Kedah."
Although Abdullah has painted the election as a contest between "progressive" Islam and backward conservatism, government corruption is also a major issue.
Acknowledging this, the prime minister has made the fight against graft and cronyism a central plank of his administration as it rides a resurgent economy and pledges development for all.
Abdullah also has on his side the fact that anger over one of the major issues in the last election -- the sacking and jailing of popular former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim - -- has faded.
In the 1999 poll, the government's share of the Muslim vote slipped from 63 percent to 49 percent, with some of the support going to the new National Justice Party led by Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, which took five parliamentary seats in an alliance with PAS.
The National Front remained in power, as it has since independence from Britain in 1957, partly through the support of parties representing non-Muslim minorities who fear PAS fundamentalism.
Ethnic Chinese and Indians -- Buddhists, Hindus and Christians -- make up more than a third of the population of 25 million and are expected to again ensure victory for the coalition of 14 parties.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS