Straits Times
PERMATANG PAUH (Malaysia) - MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim made a final push on Monday for votes in a by-election expected to return him to parliament and take him another step closer to becoming premier.
He wrapped up an intense 10-day campaign, which has been marred by allegations of vote-buying and dirty tricks, with walkabouts and house-to-house visits, and planned a series of evening rallies.
The Merdeka Centre research firm said Datuk Seri Anwar was likely to claim victory in the Permatang Pauh electorate in his home state of Penang, but that new sodomy allegations against him were a factor in the campaign.
Mr Anwar, who was sacked as deputy premier in 1998 and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges, now faces new accusations from a 23-year-old male aide which the opposition says have been concocted by the government.
'I think Anwar will win,' said the centre's pollster Ibrahim Suffian.
'The issue of the sodomy allegations, while it gained some traction at the beginning of the campaign, by the end had reached saturation point and won't significantly affect his chances of winning,' he told AFP.
With both sides trading allegations of misdeeds and attacks on supporters, the mood was tense in Permatang Pauh, where some 4,500 police were on duty, and riot squad officers patrolled in trucks and on motorcycles.
In the skies above its townships and paddy fields, a police helicopter hovered, keeping a close watch on Mr Anwar's rallies, which have attracted thousands and created massive traffic jams along the narrow rural roads.
A Merdeka Centre poll found voters were most concerned over Malaysia's faltering economy, and that 59 per cent believed the sexual misconduct allegations were politically motivated.
Mr Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who held the seat during his political exile and stood aside after he again became eligible to run for public office, made an emotional appeal for voters to reject the allegations.
'I appeal to you to vote for my husband. My husband was put in jail for six years, at that time my children were small,' said Dr Wan Azizah, a medical doctor and mother of six.
'After 10 years Anwar wants to contest and they come up with similar allegations. I urge you not to believe this - it is a slander,' she told a campaign event on Sunday night.
Mr Anwar's Keadilan party, which leds a three-member opposition alliance that gained unprecedented ground in March general elections, has accused the government of underhanded campaign tactics, including stoking racial tensions.
Although most pundits expect Mr Anwar to claim victory, the size of his winning margin will be seen as an indicator of his ability to overcome the sodomy accusation and pursue his goal of ousting the government.
After the March elections that handed the opposition control of five states and a third of parliamentary seats, he has to persuade 30 government lawmakers to switch sides in order to seize power.
He also needs to show he can continue to command support from across the racial spectrum in Malaysia, whose population is dominated by Muslim Malays but also includes large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
Keadilan has accused the Barisan Nasional coalition - which has ruled for half a century - of painting Mr Anwar as a 'Chinese agent' who has sold out the interests of Malays in his pursuit of power.
'We do not favour any one race, we all creatures of God. Again I appeal to you - give your votes to Anwar,' Dr Wan Azizah said.
The Merdeka Centre said that, in a sign of the tension surrounding the campaign, most of its 544 respondents declined to say who they would vote for.
But on the streets of Permatang Pauh, most people said they favoured Anwar.
'I voted for Wan Azizah, I will vote for Anwar Ibrahim because I want the Barisan Nasional to be toppled,' said Mr Ahmad Zawawi, a food vendor. 'We want a new leadership - 51 years is enough.' -- AFP
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