Malaysia's ruling coalition won six parliamentary seats unopposed yesterday as it formally began campaigning to clinch a two-thirds majority in general elections to be held next month.
Hundreds of political heavy-hitters and first-time aspirants filed their nomination papers to contest 222 parliamentary constituencies and 505 state legislature seats. The process officially marked the start of a 13-day campaigning period ahead of the March 8 ballot.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front coalition got an early boost when no opposition candidates came forward to run for six parliamentary seats.
"I believe the people will be attentive to the National Front, which has brought peace and progress for 50 years," Abdullah said. "I would like this election to be free of troubles."
More than 1,000 government loyalists thronged a nomination center to support Abdullah as he filed his papers against a challenger from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), in his traditional stronghold of Kepala Batas in northern Penang state.
The National Front won 199 of 219 parliamentary seats in 2004, with only 19 seats taken by the opposition, including six by PAS and 12 by the ethnic Chinese-based Democratic Action Party. Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's wife won the lone seat for her People's Justice Party. One seat went to an independent.
This time, the three parties have made a pact to field only one candidate in each constituency to avoid multi-cornered fights, which in the past benefited the National Front.
They hope to keep the National Front from attaining a two-thirds parliamentary majority, which enables the government to change the Constitution easily.
The 14-party National Front, which has governed since 1957, has acknowledged it will win fewer seats this time amid public complaints over rising inflation, crime and racial and religious tensions.
In recent months, several high-profile street protests have raised the political consciousness of Malaysians, awakening more people to ask questions about alleged government corruption and policies that some say are tantamount to racial and religious discrimination.
The National Front has the advantage of being backed by the pro-government mainstream media and is more cohesive and better coordinated than the opposition.
Opposition leaders have long complained that polls are steered against them through the gerrymandering of constituencies, vote-buying and use of bogus voters, charges the government denies.
A poor performance could undercut Abdullah's popularity as he targets a second five-year term as prime minister after succeeding longtime leader Mahathir Mohamad in 2003.
One of the fiercest contests is in Kelantan, controlled by PAS since 1990, making it the only one of Malaysia's 13 states not run by the National Front.
Hundreds of opposition members chanted Allahu Akbar (God is great) as PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat filed his nomination papers at a Kelantan school hall.
"Praise to God, I'm confident," Nik Aziz told reporters.
PAS won one Kelantan state seat uncontested when the National Front candidate was disqualified on technicalities.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
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
RSS