MALAYSIA: The government of Mr Abdullah Badawi yesterday scored an unexpected landslide victory against the fundamentalist Islamic opposition in Malaysia's general election, seen as an endorsement of the new Prime Minister's reform programme.
The ruling National Front coalition retook at least one of the two states controlled by the Islamic Party of Malaysia (Pas) as it looked set to increase its majority in the national parliament.
Pas conceded defeat in Terengganu, which it won in 1999, while the result in Kelantan, a Pas stronghold since 1990, was too close to call last night.
The results indicated the government would have control of at least 12 of Malaysia's 13 states.
The election also resulted in the collapse of the National Justice Party, led by the wife of Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister whose jailing caused a sharp drop in support for the government in the last general election in 1999.
Mr Abdullah, who succeeded Mahathir Mohamad in October, needed a convincing win to bolster his authority over the faction-riven United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the government's leading party, to prevent a possible leadership challenge. Umno is scheduled to hold party elections in June.
The Prime Minister's recent anti-graft campaign threatened vested interests in Umno, which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.
As expected, the government won a commanding majority in the 219-seat national parliament due to gerrymandering in electoral districts and firm support from the country's large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
The election focused instead on whether Mr Abdullah could halt the rise of fundamentalist Islamists in one of the Muslim world's most progressive countries. Muslim Malays account for 60 per cent of the multi-racial population. "This is a personal victory for Abdullah," said an adviser to the Prime Minister.
The mandate is likely to boost efforts by Mr Abdullah to reduce corruption by cutting links between government and business. The election results are also expected to increase foreign investment in Malaysia, which has been largely shunned by fund managers since it imposed temporary capital controls after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.