Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim won a landslide victory in a special election for a parliament seat Tuesday, strengthening his campaign to topple the government and become the next prime minister despite sodomy charges against him. The official count showed Anwar defeated the governing coalition's candidate for a seat from a semi-rural district in the northern industrial state of Penang.
"This is the people's victory," Anwar, 61, said in a victory speech to thousands of supporters.
"Permatang Pauh has given a clear signal to the leadership of this country. We demand change. We want freedom. We don't want to live with corruption and oppression," he said.
Anwar's re-entry into parliament would formally complete the political rehabilitation of a man who was fired as deputy prime minister in 1998 and jailed for six years after he was convicted of corruption and sodomizing his family driver. Anwar is now facing trial on new charges that he sodomized a male aide in June. He calls the latest sodomy charge "most sickening" and a politically motivated attack. Sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in jail in Malaysia and no date has been set for the trial. Anwar's previous sodomy conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2004. He has always maintained that he was framed by his boss, then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, because of a power struggle. He says the latest charge is also a conspiracy by Mahathir's successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to prevent him from becoming prime minister. Abdullah denies it.
Thousands of Anwar supporters had gathered outside the counting center awaiting the results, watched by large contingents of riot police. The Election Commission said final results gave Anwar 31,195 votes while his rival, Arif Shah Omar Shah, got 15,524 of the 47,258 votes cast. A third candidate got 92 votes. Turnout was impressive at 81 percent. The single seat that Anwar won will not change the balance of power. But he has vowed to persuade enough lawmakers from the governing National Front to defect so he can bring down the government by September 16. Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad, a member of the ruling party's policy-making council, denied Anwar's victory was a major blow to the government. A telephone poll conducted of 544 voters by the independent Merdeka Center think-tank from Friday to Sunday found 59 percent of the Permatang Pauh voters believed the sodomy allegation was politically motivated.
Anwar was expected to win most votes of the minority Chinese and Indians. The Malay voters, who form 69 percent of the constituency's electorate, were split between Anwar and the government candidate. The election was also a gauge of public anger against Abdullah's administration, which the opposition has painted as corrupt, inefficient and uncaring toward minorities. The opposition promises to scrap Malaysia's decades-old system of preferences for ethnic Malays. The government says that would jeopardize the country's unity. [End of report]
It is a great result, there was nothing surprising about it as far as I am concern because there was no doubt in my mind that he would win the election right from the start. I believe that Anwar Ibrahim is a very popular guy in Permatang Pauh. When Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah was still in control of the state, I think she did a great job and had gain a lot of support, so it is not surprising to find out that they have decided to give their support to Anwar as well. Im sure they have made the right decision. I think Anwar is a great guy and a great leader and he will do just as well. This win is very important to him because it is the first step for him if he wish to succeed in his plan to topple the government and become the next Prime Minister. It is just a small step but it is the beginning. The ruling coalition BN might sound like they are not surprise to lose the election and they might be saying things to downplay the effect that it might have on them but Im sure they are very disappointed and they know that the result is a huge blow for them especially now when the public views and support for them are really low.
You could already see the effect that it is having on them actually. It has triggered new calls from within the ruling party for the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. I dont think that will happen, but the longer he stays on, I think there will even be more pressure on him to step down. The celebrations for Anwar though might be shortlived because as we all know, he still have the sodomy charge to deal with next month. Im not sure what will happen to his political career if he is found guilty. Nevertheless, Im not too worried about it because I know that he is innocent and the sodomy charge is just a big lie. There have been no evidence whatsoever to prove that he is guilty of those charges and until that happen, I will continue to support him. It is a great victory for him and for those who wants to see change in the country. It has been a very long time coming for him. I think he fully deserve the victory after everything that he has gone through.
I heard that he will be sworn in as MP on Thursday so that is going to be another historic day to watch as well. The people of Permatang Pauh has spoken and they have made the right decision. As an Anwar supporter, I share his joy of winning the election as well and things can only get better from here on especially when he is onboard. MERDEKA!
*The report was taken from Associated Press.
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