Malaysian coalition retains power
MALAYSIA: Malaysia’s ruling coalition retained its 56-year
grip on power in hard-fought elections and called for “reconciliation”
Monday, as the opposition alleged widespread fraud and refused to
concede defeat.
The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition had faced an unprecedented
challenge from an energised opposition, but ceded just two seats in the
Sunday ballot to finish with 133 and a firm majority in the 222-member
parliament.
However Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is expected Monday to seek
the Malaysian king’s blessing to form a new government, became the first
leader to win with a minority of the popular vote.
Najib, 59, called for a spirit of reconciliation but rejected any
challenge to the outcome of the polls, marked by record voter turnout
and a fierce campaign that laid bare a deep polarisation in the
multi-racial country.
“This is the decision of the people,” he told cheering supporters in
the capital Kuala Lumpur after results were announced after midnight.
“One of the programmes we will undertake is national
reconciliation... I think we realise that there are a lot of things we
have to do as a party.” But opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was in no
mood to concede after the hopes of his three-party Pakatan Rakyat
(People’s Pact) alliance were dashed by a tide of late results in favor
of the coalition that he calls corrupt and oppressive.
“It is an election that we consider fraudulent and the EC (Election
Commission) has failed,” an exhausted-looking Anwar told reporters.
The opposition ended with 89 seats, an increase of 14, largely at the
expense of non-aligned candidates.
Azizuddin Sani, a political analyst from Universiti Utara Malaysia,
said it would be “very difficult” to challenge the result, but that
Najib needed to push on with promises of reform.
“Anwar can complain, but I don’t think it will change the results,”
he said. “Najib in his new mandate needs to push on with the reformation
plan. People need to see change... Like it or not, we will see a new
Malaysia.”
Voters took to the Internet in droves to accuse Barisan and the
Election Commission of trying to steal the election, as indelible ink
that Najib touted as a guarantee against voter fraud was found to easily
wash off.
Videos, pictures and first-hand accounts of purportedly foreign
“voters” being confronted at polling centres by angry citizens also went
viral online.
Anwar had earlier alleged a scheme to fly tens of thousands of
“dubious” and possibly foreign voters to sway the outcome in key
constituencies. Opposition officials said Pakatan would explore legal
avenues over such allegations, but it was believed to have little
recourse to block the results.
Najib had been under pressure from within his ruling United Malays
National Organisation (UMNO), Barisan’s dominant force, to regain seats
lost to Pakatan in landmark 2008 polls that saw an unprecedented swing
to the opposition.
But while he failed to do so, Barisan basically held firm, and even
gained back one of four states held by the opposition. Malaysia has 13
states.
Facing rising public calls for reform since being appointed after the
2008 elections, Najib has responded with some limited liberalisation
moves which his critics say are cosmetic steps that avoid deep change.
AFP |