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Mahathir’s Party Wins Election

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June 12, 2000

 

KUALA LUMPUR, JUNE 11 (AP) - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling coalition rejoiced Sunday over its victory in a keenly watched parliamentary by-election, while opposition leaders warned that Chinese ethnic support for the government was waning.

     

The ruling National Front coalition saw its majority almost halved in the Teluk Kemang constituency in southwestern Negri Sembilan state, where 44,079 voters cast ballots Saturday for a new parliamentary representative.

     

The National Front's candidate, S. Sothinathan, polled exactly 24,500 votes, 5,972 votes more than his rival, Ruslan Kassim of the opposition National Justice Party. There were 1,051 spoilt ballots.

    

During last November's general election, the National Front trounced the opposition in Teluk Kemang with a majority of 9,942 votes. The victorious candidate died earlier this year, forcing a

by-election in the constituency.

     

While Mahathir launched a weeklong official trip to Japan last Tuesday, thousands of government and opposition loyalists descended on Teluk Kemang for several days of vigorous campaigning.

      

Local media on Sunday reported that the National Front performed badly in predominantly Chinese ethnic areas of Teluk Kemang.

     

Most of the voters in these areas were farmers who went bankrupt after a disease believed to be transmitted through close contact with infected pigs killed dozens of villagers and crippled the pork

industry last year.

     

Many farmers say the government failed to compensate them sufficiently after authorities ordered nearly a million hogs to be massacred to stop the disease from spreading.

     

"The outcome of this by-election shows that the government can no longer be sure of Chinese support," Tian Chua, vice-president of the Justice Party, told The Associated Press.

     

"The government's popularity is still dwindling, and this will be reflected during the next general election," Chua said.

     

More than half of Malaysia's 22 million people are ethnic Malays. Ethnic Chinese comprise 30 percent, while 10 percent are ethnic Indian.

     

Mahathir's National Front relied heavily on Chinese ethnic backing to retain its two-thirds majority in Parliament during last November's general vote.

     

Many of Mahathir's traditional Malay supporters were said to be upset with the prime minister's sacking of his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim in 1998.

      

After Anwar was sentenced to six years imprisonment for corruption, his wife Azizah Ismail founded the Justice Party and united the fractured opposition to challenge the government which

she claims framed her husband.

     

Saturday's results, however, marked the second by-election victory for the National Front since November's general vote. In April, the coalition retained the Sanggang state seat in eastern Pahang state with an increased majority.


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